















































. 




































































































THE BOY PREACHER; 


OR, THE 


LIFE AND LABORS 

OF 

REV. THOMAS HARRISON 

TOGETHER WITH 


SKETCHES OF THE MOST REMARKABLE REVIVALS 


IN WHICH HE HAS BEEN ENGAGED. 

By REV. EyDAVIES, 

/i 

AUTHOR OF “ BELIEVER'S HAND BOOK,” “ THE GIFT OF THE HOLY 
GHOST,” “ HE LEADETH ME," “ GEMS AND PEARLS," 

“ LAW OF HOLINESS,” “ DAILY FOOD,” ETC- 



u Let no man despise thy youth.” — St. Paul. 


HOLINESS BOOK CONCERN, 

HEADING, MASS. 





sanction tdc /adoz# <2/&ev. 
in aiianyiny anc//icci/ta/uny an account my 
zevivad wold. 

QSdoma* (d/lazzcton 

t^dieiict&n,, ^onn., C2)ec. S3, 


COPYRIGHT, 

1881, 

By E. Datieb. 

) ", 


Stereotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundnr 

# Pearl Street 





TO 

ALL THAT LOVE OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 

IN SINCERITY AND TRUTH, 

kND ARE LABORING TO SAVE SOULS FROM ETERNAL DEATH, 
WHETHER MINISTER OR LAYMAN, PASTOR 
OR EVANGELIST, 

$ooh is $UspettMlg jRbkateb 

BY THE AUTHOR. 









































* 




PREFACE 


If ever God led and helped me in anjdhing, it has 
been in the preparation of this book for the religious 
public. I am as much surprised as many of my readers 
will be, that after being an evangelist myself for the 
past ten years, that God should call me to write up the 
labors of another evangelist; but thus it is, and thus it 
has pleased God to have it. 

It has seemed to me, all the way through, that God 
would be greatly glorified in this publication to the 
world of His wonderful works in saving so many thou¬ 
sands of souls in connection with the labors of Brother 
Harrison. It has been exceedingly difficult to find out 
the facts in the case, because Mr. Harrison has failed 
to keep any diary. I have had to travel from State to 
State, and from city to city, and from pastor to pastor, 
so that I could write a candid statement of this most 
wonderful series of revival meetings. 

I am happy to record that the visiting of these 
churches, and the conversation with these pastors, and 
the preparation of this book, have been a great means 
of grace to my own soul. My faith in God has been 
greatly increased. And it is with the certain expecta¬ 
tion that tens of thousands will be blessed and inspired 
by reading this book, that I have been able to overcome 
mountains of difficulties, and have toiled on through 

5 



6 


PREFACE. 


these weary weeks in preparing this rich feast for so 
many readers. 

I expect many will be blessed in reading this book, 
because the reading of such books has been made such 
a great blessing to my own soul. Next to the Bible 
these books have been of the greatest value to me. 

I have not written this book to glorify the subject of 
it, but to honor that God who has made him such a 
great blessing to the world. 

I have written in the spirit of prayer, and have car¬ 
ried it to God in the spirit of entire consecration. I 
have dedicated it to Him in whom I live, and move, 
and have my being. 

I have read the substance of this book to Mr. Harri¬ 
son, and revised and corrected it according to his 
suggestions. He has kindly furnished some materials 
for its composition. I acknowledge my indebtedness 
to him and to Dr. France. Rev. W. Downs, Rev. G. 
G. Baker, Rev. R. Norris, and Rev. S. M. Hartsock, 
of Baltimore; also to Rev. E. D. Owen and Rev. Mr. 
Hagey, of Washington, D. C., for their kind sugges¬ 
tions, and the use of papers and other helps. 

The benediction of the Almighty go with this book 
to the ends of the earth, and may it be blessed to tens 
of thousands after my soul is with God in glory. 
Amen and Amen. 

Edward Davies. 

Reading, Mass., January, 1881. 


CONTENTS 


-♦- 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Evangelists in the Chubch.11 

CHAPTER I. 

Birth and Early Life. 

Birth — Early Life — Conversion — Call to preach — Fiery Bap¬ 
tism — Early Christian Labors — Personal Appearance — 
Traits of Character,.21 


CHAPTER II. 

SUMMERFIELD AND HARRISON. 

Points of Contrast — Points of Analogy — Pious Parents — Early 
converted — Called to preach — Souls saved — Large Congre¬ 
gations — Extensive Usefulness,.36 

CHAPTER III. 

Revivals in Baltimore. 

Eutaw Street Church — Franklin Street Revival — St. John’s, 
Liberty Street— Caroline Street Revival — Union Square Re¬ 
vival— Incidents — Remarks — Nearly One Thousand con¬ 
verted — Great Care taken of the Converts — All that Part 
of the City stirred — Rumsellers out of Employment, . 42 

CHAPTER IY. 

Baltimore Revivals continued. • 

Madison Square Revival — Tidal Wave of Salvation — Many 
converted, some from other Churches — Many Children saved 
Meetings lasted Sixteen Weeks • Seasons of Awful Power 



8 


CONTENTS. 


— Men terribly convicted — Faithful Record kept — Pure 

Channel — Emory Church Revival-—Wonderful Displays of 
Divine Power — One Mighty Conflict — Remarks — Man of 
Faith — Acquainted with God — A Man of Prayer — Skilful 
General — Good Lesson — Great Increase of Membership in 
the Baltimore Conference,.53 

CHAPTER V. 

Revivals in Washington, D. C. 

Trenton, N. J. — Ryland Church, Washington — Mr. Miller 
converted; dies in Twenty-seven Days — Many Converts — 
Revival at Georgetown, D. C. — Conflict of Faith; Mighty 
Victory; Whole City shaken—Twelfth Street M. E. Church; 
Forty Converts in Three Weeks — Home to Boston — 
Foundry M. E. Church — Great Power in managing Revival 
Meetings — Hundreds saved— Hamline Church, Washington 

— House crowded — Police keep Order — One Hundred and 

Three join the Church—Revivals in York, Pa.; Five Hun¬ 
dred converted — Lima, Ohio, Five Weeks’ Meeting— Entire 
Community stirred; all Churches benefited, . . .65 

CHAPTER VI. 

Secrets op Success. 

1. A Charm in his Singing. — 2. His Power with God in Prayer 

— 3. His Unbounded Faith in the Gospel to save Men. — 4. His 

Peculiar Manner and Style of Address. —5. Deep Conviction 
that he preaches God’s Eternal Truth. — 6. The Power of the 
Holy Ghost. — 7. Wisdom and Tact in managing Meetings. — 
8. Past Success leads to Present Victory. — 9. He keeps his 
Heart and Mind in a Constant Glow. — 10. No Set of Revival 
Sermons. —11. His Native Eloquence. — 12, He knows how 
to deal with Men, etc. . . 75 

CHAPTER VII. 

Camp Meeting Labors. 

No Rest — Emory Grove Camp — Mighty Victory the Last 
Night — Meeting till Three o’Clock, a. m. — Camp Meeting 
in New England — Meeting of Great Power that lasted Four 


CONTENTS. 


9 


Hours — Blessed Triumphs —Washington Grove Camp Meet¬ 
ing ; Mighty Victories — Chester Heights Camp Meeting; 
many saved — Martha’s Vineyard; three Powerful Services — 
His Labors at the Western Camp Meetings —.Seaville Camp, 
N. J. .89 


CHAPTER VIII. 

Wharton Street Church, Philadelphia. 

Wharton Street Revival — Reports of the Pastor — All-day 
Meeting — Closing Services — One Thousand Converts, 97 

CHAPTER IX. 

Brooklyn Revival. 

Revival is. Dr. Talmage’s Great Tabernacle — Nearly One Hun¬ 
dred rose for Prayers the First Meeting — “He attacks the 
Citadel of the Will ” — Strong Men dissolved in Tears, and 
wanted Salvation — Four hundred and sixteen New Members 
in one Day — Dr. Talmage’s Remarks— Tabernacle crowded — 
Two hundred and forty more New Members — Remarks, 110 

CHAPTER X. 

Revival in Scott M. E. Church, Philadelphia. 

Commenced October 7, 1880 — Church literally packed — Polit¬ 
ical Excitement — Brass Bands — Wonderful Power in his 
Exhortations — All Classes reached — The last Day but one 
of the Revival — Dr. Talmage’s Sermons, . . . 13G 

CHAPTER XI. 

Revival at Scott M. E. Church, No. 2. 

Wonderful Glory in the Evening Meeting — Heavenly Singing 
and Exhortations — Mr. Harrison’s last Night but one — Plead¬ 
ing for Souls — Many converted — Remarks, . .146 

CHAPTER XII. 

Closing Day at Scott M. E. Church, No. 8. 

Bishop Campbell's Sermon in the A. M. Lovefeast — Dr. W. R 
Cullis’ Sermon at Three o’Clock — Evening Service — Mr 



10 


CONTENTS. 


Harrison’s Exhortation — One hundred rcse for Prayers — 
Glorious Altar Service — Twenty or more converted — Clos¬ 
ing Scenes — Pastor’s Remarks — Mr. Harrison’s Reply — 
Shaking Hands — Convicted Policeman, . . . 156 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Remarkable Incidents,.171 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Mr. Harrison’s Familiar Talks,.181 

CHAPTER XV. 

Revival in Meriden, Conn. 

Visit to Boston — Meetings began quietly — Absence of the 
Enthusiasm of Scott Church — Interest increasing — Converts 
increasing — Great Crowd on Sunday Night — Many con¬ 
verted — One saved in the Depot near the Midnight Hour — 
A Man led by a Child — Great Awakening, . , . 196 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Dr. Talmage’s Sermon — Letters from Rev. W. Downs and 
Dr. S. F. Upham,.207 


CHAPTER XVII. 

A Thrilling Account of the Great Revival in Indianapolis, 231 
CHAPTER XVIII. 

Mr. Harrison’s Religious Experience, .... 244 
CHAPTER XIX. 

Revival in San Francisco and Cincinnati, • • • 255 

CHAPTER XX. 

Revivals in Decatur, Danville, and Rockford, Ill., . . 262 



THE BOY PREACHER. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

EVANGELISTS IN THE CHURCH. 

God has been pleased, in his infinite wisdom, to 
appoint different orders of men in the ministry of 
the church of the New Testament. St. Paul tells 
us that Christ “ Gave some apostles ; and some, 
prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pas¬ 
tors and teachers : For the perfecting of the saints, 
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of 
the body of Christ. Till we all come in the unity 
of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of 
God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the 
stature of the fulness of Christ.” This very com¬ 
prehensive passage of holy writ teaches us plainly 
that God is pleased to use a variety of men to 
accomplish his mighty work. 

From the days of Moses until now, God has had 
a class of men in the church that in a general sense 
may be called evangelists. Moses himself was an 
evangelist carrying good tidings to the oppressed 

11 



12 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


people of Israel, and leading them c at of bondage 
into liberty. “ It was indeed a revival when the 
Israelites, led by Jehovah (through Moses) out of 
bondage, through the sea and the desert, went up 
to the mount of God to form a Jewish church into 
a theocratic nation. The man and the means were 
extraordinary.” u Moses stands at the head of the 
evangelists of the old dispensation. These prophets 
of God not only foretold future events, but they 
taught the people the things of God ; yet they had 
neither church, nor pulpit, nor salary. They gath¬ 
ered their congregations wherever they could find 
them — in the street, the field, or the highway.” 

Ezra and Nehemiah were evangelists who were 
appointed of God to call the people back to the 
covenant mercies of God. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Eze¬ 
kiel, were among the fearless messengers which 
God sent to the church and people of their day. 
They were not priests, but they were preachers, 
of great power in the independent ministry of 
God’s word. John the Baptist was an evangelist of 
great energy, swaying the people with the power 
of God and his great eloquence. Jesus Christ him¬ 
self was an evangelist of the highest order, who 
proclaimed the glad t'dings of salvation to a lost 
world. The Apostles were sent out as evangel¬ 
ists, in the general sense that they proclaimed glad 
tidings and had no settled parish. So were the 


EVANGELISTS IN THE CHURCH. 


13 


seventy that Christ sent out, who returned and 
said the devils were subject unto them. Philip 
was called an evangelist; and Timothy was ex¬ 
horted to do the work of an evangelist, and make 
full proof of his ministry. 

Albert Barnes says : “ The office of evangelist 
was distinct from that of the pastor, the teacher, 
and the prophet, and was manifestly an office in 
which preaching was the main thing.” Prof. Hack- 
ett says: “ The title of evangelists appears to have 
been given to those who had no stated charge, but 
travelled from place to place as they had oppor¬ 
tunity.” Olshausen says : “ Evangelists are such 
teachers as, journeying about, labored for the wider 
extension of the gospel.” Bengel sa}^s : “The evan¬ 
gelist was fitted for an office of the highest im¬ 
portance by a gift superior to that of pastors and 
teachers.” This accords with the teaching of St. 
Paul in Eph. iv. 11, which I have quoted. 

We have no reason to believe that God has ever 
ceased to call men to fill the office of evangelist. 
John Wesley was the evangelist of his day, and 
became the founder of a church, while he had the 
wide world for his parish. William Taylor is the 
evangelist of this day, who has labored in almost 
all parts of the world with marked success, and 
has established self-sustaining missions in India 
and South America, and is determined to belt the 


14 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


coasts of the world with these missions if God will 
give him strength and power. 

Of late the number of evangelists has largely 
increased. They seem to be called especially to 
help the pastors in revival services, and some go 
into new regions and neglected places and pro¬ 
claim the gospel of God. While the harvest is so 
great, and the laborers are so few, let no candid 
person give way to prejudice against these men 
and women, who, we trust, are divinely appointed 
to this great work. If some have mistaken their 
calling, and others have made many mistakes in 
their work, this only shows that they are human; 
and this is only what may be found among any 
large company of laborers, in any department of 
the church or of the world. 

Some of these evangelists have been like Saul, 
and have slain their thousands, and, thank God, 
some of them have been like David, and have slain 
their tens of thousands. Among this latter class we 
may number the subject of this volume, for God 
has greatly honored this dear brother in helping 
him to lead thousands of souls to Christ, although 
he is yet but twenty-six years of age. Some call 
him “ The Boy Evangelist,” and no doubt there is 
a novelty about his youth that attracts many to sit 
under his ministry, who are swayed by the power 
of his word, and led to Christ. 


EVANGELISTS IN THE CHURCH. 15 

Prof. J. B. Jaques says upon the want of evan¬ 
gelists : 

“ 1. This want of evangelists is based upon cMvine 
authority, and this office has never been abolished. 

u 2. The wide-spread usefulness of those who are 
called to this office is a proof of its further neces¬ 
sity. 

11 3. The constantly growing tendency of the 
church to run into ruts, or on a smooth track of 
dead monotony. This is broken up by the nomad 
irregularity of evangelists. 

11 4. Also by the growing tendency of our minis¬ 
ters to the settled pastorate. Formerly, nearly 
every minister was an evangelist. Now the ten¬ 
dency is to settle down, and evangelists are needed 
to stir them up. 

u 5. Because it is difficult to find the pulpit 
teacher and the evangelist in any one man. Pas¬ 
tors need what the Apostle calls 1 helps 1 to lead 
souls over the Rubicon of repentance and faith. 

u 6. Because ministers in large churches have 
special need of help in revival services. It is 
simply a physical necessity. They must have help 
or break down. 

u 7. This want is implied in the divine call of 
men to this work. Let no man interfere with the 
will of God in the case.” 

Dr. Rigg, the ex-president of the Wesleyan 


16 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


Methodist Conference in England, in his sermon 
before the newly-ordained ministers of that body, 
giving them their solemn charge before Almighty 
God, says: 

“ In the apostolic age the office of 1 evangelist ’ 
would appear to have been one of wide scope, and 
allowing great latitude and variety of employment 
in the work of Christ. Philip, the lay deacon, a 
man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, became an 
evangelist, and we trace his labors, after he had 
left Jerusalem, in Samaria and Azotus, where he 
seems to have settled, retaining his style and title 
as an evangelist to the end of his life. But Tim¬ 
othy, Titus, and Erastus appear to have been evan¬ 
gelists of a much wider range of service, and of 
very varied work and commission, as they revolved 
continually around the great Apostle, moving in his 
orbit of light and power. Sometimes they attended 
personally on St. Paul, serving him at any and every 
point as need arose, and as his 1 sons in the gospel.’ 
Under him they preached and baptized as he di¬ 
rected. They visited the churches. At other times, 
commissioned with high authority, they made dis¬ 
tant journeys among the churches, and comforted 
and exhorted them publicly, and from house to 
house, taking province by province, organizing and 
regulating everywhere, and 1 ordaining elders in 
every city.’ Thus the evangelist in apostolic times 


EVANGELISTS IN THE CHURCH. 


17 


might dow serve as a curate, to use our modern 
terms of ecclesiastical ministering, now act as a 
home missionary pioneer, and again might wield 
powers equivalent to those of our American pre¬ 
siding elder or travelling bishop; from which it 
would appear that the work and office of an evan¬ 
gelist can scarcely take rank as a necessary par¬ 
ticular in the organization of the churches locally 
and distributively. A great collective or connec- 
tional church, united, sympathetic, expansive, ener¬ 
getic, missionary, like the united church of the 
apostolic age, could not be complete without its corps 
of evangelists. But such ministers were not needed 
for the spiritual care of the separate local churches, 
such as that at Philippi or Crete. Hence, the direc¬ 
tions as to ordination in the pastoral epistles relate 
only to the appointment in the churches of 1 elders ’ 
or * bishops/ that is, of pastors and teachers, — the 
office is the same, though the titles are various, — 
and of deacons. Accordingly, in a united, a na¬ 
tional, a cosmopolitan church, evangelists are neces¬ 
sary to complete our ministerial provision and equip¬ 
ment; acting now as home missionary ministers, as 
district missionaries. 

11 The great majority of our ministers, however, 
are 1 pastors and teachers/ and the evangelists 
themselves may at any time become 1 pastors and 
teachers/ and will then find that, in their evan- 


18 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


gelistic work, they have learned lessons of gospel 
truth and experience, and have gained power and 
aptitude for certain kinds of work, such as are of 
very high value in the ordinary exercises of their 
ministry. 

“ For it must be remembered, as I have inti¬ 
mated, that no distinct line of demarcation sepa¬ 
rates between the work of 1 an evangelist ’ and 
that of 1 the pastor and teacher.’ The pioneer must 
at least initiate the organization of the church, or 
his labor will be mostly lost; and from the first, if 
he is to be successful, he must do pastoral work 
from house to house. On the other hand, the 1 pas¬ 
tor and teacher,’ the minister appointed, as we are 
accustomed to say, to the ordinary work of a cir¬ 
cuit must be a pioneer, as he has opportunity, — 
must have a heart and a gift for evangelistic work, 
for opening new places, for awakening careless 
sinners, and bringing in new converts to the fold, — 
or he is wanting in some of the prime qualifica¬ 
tions necessary for the complete and efficient dis¬ 
charge of the ministerial office. The two offices, — 
perhaps I should say the two functions, — accord¬ 
ingly, of 1 evangelist ’ and of 1 pastor and teacher,’ 
melt into each other, and I shall not need further 
to distinguish them.” 


EVANGELISTS IN THE CHTJBCH. 


19 


EVANGELISTS — AN OFFICE OF THE MINISTRY. 

Rev. J. P. Brooks writes as follows: 

“The office of evangelist is provided for by divine 
prescription. The mind of the Lord cannot be mis¬ 
taken by us on the subject, if any candid attention 
be given to the record of the early church. Indeed, 
the missionary idea is the true evangelistic idea. 
And the early church, as well as the later church, is 
missionary in structure and spirit. We mean the 
church, according to the divine idea and order of 
it. So true is this, that a church cannot be a true 
gospel church unless it be impregnated with, and 
inspired by, the missionary spirit. 1 Go ye into all 
the world/ — 1 preach/ — ‘ to every creature/ 
Here, in the divine commission, is the elemental 
idea of evangelism; and here, too, is the original 
and God-asserted authorization of evangelistic 
work. 

“ As matter of fact it is true, that the mere office 
of preaching, as it is technically regarded, has 
never fulfilled the divine requirements concerning 
the Christian ministry. Nor yet have those re¬ 
quirements been fulfilled by the simple perform¬ 
ance of pastoral functions. Evidently the work 
of the mere preacher, or the mere pastor, cannot 
fulfil the divine purpose touching the ministries 


20 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


that our Lord has ordained for the indoctrination 
and edification of his people. 

11 There is both an outlying and an inlying work 
in connection with every church pastorate that re* 
quires the doing of work which the settled pastor 
jannot, or will not, perform. And so long as it re¬ 
mains true — and no doubt it will so remain until 
the dispensation ends — that pastors cannot do all 
they would, or will not do all they could, for the 
teaching and training of souls about them, so long 
will remain the necessity for evangelistic service. 
And this necessity providentially existing will be 
providentially supplied. God will raise up evan¬ 
gelists for the doing of the work that will not, per¬ 
haps cannot, be otherwise done. 

“ And then, it requires no words to show that, as 
to the Christian pastorate, all through the land, 
there is much outlying work, that if done at all, 
must be done by other than pastoral agencies. 
Wherever may be located the hypothetical or 
mythical boundary that encloses 1 my parish/ out¬ 
side that boundary are untaught and unsaved popu¬ 
lations that no pastor can reach. Here is mission¬ 
ary work. Here is one of the open doors for 
evangelistic labor. And we are happy to know 
that evangelists have willingly and gladly gone, 
when guided of the Lord, to such places, and have 
wrought faithfully 


HIS BIRTH AND EARL'S LIFE. 


21 


CHAPTER I. 

HIB BIRTH, EARLY LIFE, CONVERSION, AND QUALIFI¬ 
CATION TO PREACH. 

The subject of this narrative was born in 
Dorchester district, Boston, Massachusetts, De¬ 
cember 25th, 1854. He was the son of a pious 
mother, whose earnest and faithful prayers were 
offered daily to Almighty God in his behalf. The 
longing desire of her heart was, that he may be 
converted in early life, and that he might be the 
instrument in the hands of God of leading a mul¬ 
titude of souls to Christ. 

Joy unspeakable filled that mother’s heart, to 
find that her fervent prayers were answered in his 
early conversion, and are now being constantly 
answered. She took pains to bring him up in the 
nurture and admonition of the Lord. Still he went 
on in the neglect of the salvation of his soul till 
he was past fifteen years of age. For years he 
had felt the strivings of the Holy Ghost in his 
heart, but refused to yield to His gentle prompt 


22 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


mgs. Death had to invade his home before be 
would yield to obey God. While he was visiting 
in New Brunswick, he was aroused to a sense of 
his sin, and danger before God, by the news of the 
sudden death of a younger brother. When this 
sad news reached him, the Spirit applied it to his 
heart, and he hasted home to see and sympathize 
with his afflicted parents. Conviction for sin sank 
deep into his heart, and there was no rest or peace 
till his soul bowed before God, and he cried for 
mercy. The burden of sin hung heavily upon his 
heart, and he waited before God day and night till 
the midnight hour of December 31st, 1869. As 
he was walking along Washington Street, Boston,— 
the snow was falling quite fast; just then the sol¬ 
emn midnight bell tolled the knell of the dying 
year, — the Holy Spirit revealed to his conscience 
his true state before God. He had been in the 
spirit of earnest prayer for some time, and in that 
solemn, midnight hour, all alone, he yielded his 
heart and will to Christ, and then and there he 
was born of God. The truth of God was brought 
to his mind as in a vision from heaven. Then he 
saw what Christ had done for him. Then he ac¬ 
cepted Christ as his only hope of salvation, and 
consecrated to Him all his future life. 

At this time he was engaged as a clerk in a 
Store ; but he felt that God had other work for him 


HIS BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE. 28 

to do ; and by the advice of Rev. Daniel Richards, 
pastor of the Dorchester Methodist Episcopa) 
Church, he at once commenced a course of study 
for the work of the Christian ministry. He en¬ 
tered as a student at Wilbraham Academy, of 
which the Rev. Edward Cook was at that time 
principal, and after remaining there some time, 
and receiving license to preach, he was received 
into Brooklyn Lay College, under the care of Dr. 
Talmage. 

The following will be read with interest, and will 
show the work of the Holy Ghost in this youthful 
heart. 

THOMAS HARRISON'S EXPERIENCE. 

Thomas Harrison, the young and successful 
evangelist, gave his personal experience at the 
Lakeside Camp-meeting, where he was laboring. 
It was reported in the Cleveland Leader , as fol¬ 
lows : 

u Many people, in the last five years, especially 
the last year, have asked about my continued suc¬ 
cess, Wherein lieth the secret ? To-night I’ll give 
it to you. And it is the secret of any Christian’s 
success. May the Lord help me — may the Lord 
help me while I am talking to you, perhaps for the 
last time. 

“ If there ever was a saint on earth, my mother 



24 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


is that saint. It was a sacred hour when she 
knelt down before the open Bible, and, with her 
nand on my head, prayed, 1 0 God ! save my boy/ 
I was finally converted in the old-fashioned, spirit¬ 
ual, Methodistic way, and converted most soundly, 
too. It was my mother’s morning prayers that 
saved me. But before I yielded, these prayers 
bothered me a great deal, they worried me; and 
after school I would throw my books down, and go 
to my room and pray and weep. 

“ One summer I went down to New Brunswick 
on a vacation. I was having a good time, till one 
morning I received a telegram from home, running 
thus: ‘ Freddie is dead 1’ I went home, and found 
my mother very thin and pale. Her looks moved 
me, and when she again prayed , 1 0 God, save my 
boy/ I felt inclined to yield, but I didn’t. 

11 1 was standing, the next winter, on the street, 
in the snow, and leaning against a cold, icy lamp- 
post, when I heard a voice saying to me, ‘ Now or 
never.’ And this, dear friends, is a point reached 
in every path, and we must cross it. But I said: 
‘ Good God, you don’t ask me to get down in the 
snow and ice. I can’t kneel here in the street : 
just wait till I get to my room, and I’ll give up all. 
I’m afraid, Lord, HI freeze here.’ Again I heard 
the voice, ‘ Now or never.’ Again I remonstrated, 
I can’t kneel here; I shall freeze, I know t shall. 


HIS BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE. 


25 


But the voice came again, ‘ Now or never/ I gave 
up and cried, ‘Now, Lord/ and he saved me as 
quick as a flash. Glory to God ! 

“ Now, that’s the way I was converted. But I 
did not get this baptism of power till some time 
after. I went on from my sixteenth to eighteenth 
year, attending the academy, and paying strict 
attention to all religious duties. But as John 
Wesley said, I only had sin in check, I didn’t have \ 
sin removed. I still had a tendency to sin, and 
not till I received 1 the second blessing/ did I part, 
with all sin. I was two years seeking for this, and 
I’ll tell you how I got it. I took one whole after¬ 
noon, and throwing my books aside, I went up into 
the mountain to pray six hours. I intended to 
pray six hours before I got up from my knees. 1 
said, ‘ Now, knees, get ready; I don’t care if you 
do get tired; I don’t care if you do ache, and get 
stiff; I’m going to pray just six hours.’ I tell you, 
my friends, I was in earnest; and when a Christian 
gets in earnest, something is going to break. 
Well, I kneeled down, and I didn’t pray an hour: 

I didn’t pray a half-hour; I didn’t pray fifteen 
minutes, nor ten minutes, nor five. I prayed just 
two minutes and a half. I had the power, and 
shouted, and shouted, * I’ve got it! ’ I shouted so 
loud I scared the birds out of the trees- I wen 


26 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


down from the mountain, shouting and praising 
God.” 

After this mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost 
he soon began to win souls. 

A BAPTISM OF FIRE. 

“ Mr. Harrison’s success as a gatherer of souls 
was as sudden as it is remarkable. He had gone 
to his home in Boston daring the vacation of the 
Lay College, lor a short visit, and during his stay 
there went to Long Plain to see a college friend 
with whom he was intimate. He found his friend, 
conducting a special service, in which Mr. Harri¬ 
son was invited to assist. No apparent results 
followed, but after the service his friend proposed 
that they should have a season of prayer together. 
1 Not here/ said his friend, ‘ nor in the house, where 
we should be liable to interruption; let us go into 
the grove behind the church and pray.’ It was in 
the depth of winter, and snow was on the ground, 
but that did not deter the young men; and finding 
a spot where the thick foliage had kept the snow 
from penetrating, they fell on their knees, and 
wrestled for a blessing. As they prayed, the cold 
was forgotten, and the warmth glowing in their 
souls seemed to influence their bodies, for when 
they arose they felt as if it had been July instead 
nf December. 


HIS BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE. 


27 


u As they stood together, in that moment the 
assurance filled the breasts of both the young 
men that the blessing they had been seeking had 
been bestowed, and in full assurance of faith they 
anticipated a manifestation of God's power. That 
night's service was one never to be forgotten by 
the two friends. The meeting was opened by 
singing, 

4 Oh! for a thousand tongues to sing,’ 

and before its conclusion signs of the Holy Spirit's 
work were observed, and soon one after another 
among the congregation broke out in audible sobs 
and cries, beseeching for prayer that they might 
find Jesus. An invitation to those who were anx¬ 
ious to come to the front brought together a crowd 
never seen before in that place. Sinners seeking 
salvation, and believers who had been backsliders, 
were on their knees praying with one accord for 
mercy. That meeting was followed by others of a 
like character, and Mr. Harrison, who went to 
Long Plain for a day or two, remained for a month, 
and the whole Plain was stirred. From that re¬ 
markable beginning the preacher has always 
looked confidently for the power of God to be put 
forth, and corresponding results have attended hii 
services everywhere.” 


28 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


IN BALTIMORE. 

11 The following spring, Mr. Harrison attended 
the meetings of the General Conference at Balti¬ 
more. During his visit he preached with marked 
success in the Utah Church, and the services were 
attended by many ministers of the Baltimore 
churches, who were struck by the evidences of 
pulpit power in one so young. The summer was 
spent in close application to study and active 
.vork in his native state, and in the fall he returned 
to Baltimore to hold special services. The work 
commenced at the Franklin Street church, in No¬ 
vember, 1876. For six weeks he labored there 
with great success, many souls being converted 
and added to the church. From there he removed 
to Caroline Street, East Baltimore, and then to St. 
John’s Independent church, North Liberty Street. 

“There the meetings were larger, and were 
more powerfully moved than had as yet been seen, 
as many as fifty persons, in a single night, present¬ 
ing themselves at the altar, avowing their faith in 
Jesus, and their determination, in God’s strength, 
to live for Him. A call came, while Mr. Harrison 
was at St. John’s, from the Union Square Meth¬ 
odist church, of which Dr. France was pastor', 
and thither Mr. Harrison proceeded. The first 
meeting was held February 5, 1877, and during 


HIS BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE. 


29 


twenty weeks the work went on. At the close of 
the services no less than a thousand persons, some 
of them notorious for their godlessness, were 
brought into the church, and testified openly what 
God had done for their souls.” 

All this shows the power of entire sanctifica¬ 
tion, of being filled with the fulness of God, and 
being baptized with the Holy Ghost. For two 
years after his conversion he was waiting before 
God for this successful anointing, and then he had 
a distinct and immediate work of God in his soul, 
by which he was fully sanctified to God, and filled 
with the Holy Ghost and power. So that he 
would have been only like the masses of ordinary 
Christians, and the great work for God would 
never have been done, and multitudes of sinners 
might have perished forever, if this youth had 
not yielded to the Holy Ghost, and given himself 
entirely to God. 

Oh, that all young men who read this might aban¬ 
don themselves to the will and work of God 1 I 
would not be understood to teach that all young 
men would be equally successful if they were 
equally sanctified. Still, they would not be so 
extensively useful without this sanctification. So 
that if they would do the greatest good to the 
greatest number, in the shortest time, they must 
be filled with the Holy Ghost just as early in life 


30 


THE BOY PREACHES. 


as possible. In all ages God has been pleased to 
work through fully consecrated agencies. Oh, 
young men, give yourselves fully to God! Be 
wholly the Lord's. Put yourselves fully into his 
hands, and he will make you mighty in doing good. 

PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND OTHER POINTS. 

“ In person Mr. Harrison is slight in figure, rather 
under medium height, and in a crowd would 
scarcely be distinguished as one possessed of unu¬ 
sual power in any direction. Unassuming and 
modest in demeanor, yet withal self-possessed and 
gentlemanly in bearing, he would be set down as 
simply a fair type of the average well-bred New 
York or Brooklyn young man. Yet there is a rare 
twinkle in his deep-set gray eyes, which occasion¬ 
ally gives token of a mind capable of keen thought 
and a brimming fund of wit. Indeed, it may be 
said that one of the chief sources of his power, 
humanly speaking, is consecrated wit. This it is 
which saves him from ever becoming tedious to an 
audience. His addresses, which are always short 
and pointed, are variegated with anecdotes and 
colloquies with imaginary objectors, couched in 
such terms as frequently to awaken a ripple of 
amusement, and yet, because of that self-same 
quaint and entertaining drollery, to hold the at¬ 
tention, and carry every point irresistibly in the 


ms BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE. 


81 


minds of the hearers. In Mr. Harrison’s mental 
constitution, as with so many others, love of fun 
seems linked with susceptibility to the deepest 
pathos. In the light and shade of his discourses, 
therefore, there is many a passage which melts the 
most callous to tears. As if by sheer force of 
contrast, the mind which one moment relishes a 
flash of wit seems thereby to be thrown into a 
fitter mood to appreciate the fervent appeal to the 
inmost feelings which oftentimes follows. Perhaps 
another source of Mr. Harrison’s uncommon power 
with an audience is his personal magnetism. In 
delivery he is quick, nervous, extremely terse in 
language, and lightning-like in his movements. 
While speaking it is impossible not to both watch 
him and listen to him intently. And in his con¬ 
duct of the after proceedings, and hand-to-hand 
dealing with individual inquirers, that singular 
power which some men have over others seems in 
him to be conspicuously displayed. 

“ But any analysis of the sources of his success 
would be wofully inadequate which did not recog¬ 
nize first and last the baptism of the Holy Ghost, 
for work with which he is so evidently so largely 
endowed. When men become utterly consecrated, 
when they become totally empty of self, when 
they earnestly seek the gift of the Holy Ghost for 
service, the Spirit comes down upon them, dwells 


32 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


in them, and energizes and works through theii 
human faculties, in a way, and to the achievement 
of results, of which they, unaided, would never 
have been capable. It is a matter for great con¬ 
gratulation that a young man, of such tempera¬ 
ment and talents as Mr. Harrison, should have thus 
unreservedly placed himself as an instrument in 
the Master’s hands, and more especially that in 
the midst of his wonderful success — although so 
young that success might easily turn his head — 
he yet remains as humble and sincerely devoted 
as when he began.” 

Rev. J. S. Inskip testifies : 

u I have found Mr. Harrison exceedingly docile 
and unpretentious. We have never seen a more 
perfectly childlike character. We like the man, 
and God has approved his work. We remember it 
is written, 1 Touch not Mine anointed, and do My 
prophets no harm.’ It is a serious thing to wound 
or hinder one of the Lord’s chosen ones.” 

Rev. J. S. Inskip says in another place: 

11 There is much of the 1 innermost ’ about him, 
and perhaps in this will be found one of the sources 
of his real strength. He is by no means stoical or 
insensible to praise or censure. Indeed, he feels 
acutely any misrepresentation made of himself or 
of his operations. He is tenderly and becomingly 
sensitive. Nevertheless, there seems to be about 


HIS BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE. 33 

him a kind of retired, reserved interior life, which 
a close observer will readily detect at any time 
and everywhere. In the midst of the most genial 
and hearty fraternal communings with society 
around him, it is obvious his thoughts and affec¬ 
tions are drawn to the unseen. Through the glow 
and smiles incident to a high degree of joyous 
intimacy and fellowship, it is apparent he has 
within himself a source of care and comfort to 
which the world are strangers. 

u In the next place, he is intensely sincere. He 
believes every sentence that he utters. His ap¬ 
peals to the unconverted are the result of a clear 
conviction that, unless they repent and be con¬ 
verted, they will be damned. His creed, perhaps, 
may not be any more clearly defined in his own 
mind than it is to others, but his general adher¬ 
ence to what are designated orthodox doctrines 
has given caste and character to all his ministra¬ 
tions. He is never what would be designated 
new, bold, or adventurous in his theological ideas. 
In fact, he seems to have but few of these, and 
what he has are of the most plain and practical 
type. He evidently is far more interested in sal 
vation than he is in theology. His sincerity is 
allied with the most undoubting confidence. He 
never attempts to argue, but contents himself with 
asserting the truth. He does not seem to admit 
3 


34 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


the necessity of arguing or proving the truth, but 
speaks of it as though he had no doubt concerning 
it. Do not ministers of the Gospel sometimes 
make a mistake in using so much time to demon¬ 
strate the great first principles of religion? Ilia 
course is to prove nothing, but he boldly and con¬ 
fidently asserts what he seems to know is true. 

u The range of thought he pursues is not by any 
means wide, and never is complicated. In press¬ 
ing people to come to Jesus and be saved, he takes 
no time to explain or demonstrate the doctrine 
of justification by faith. When addressing the 
church, and prompting them to seek a higher state 
of experience, he attempts no labored analysis of 
the different theories of entire sanctification or 
perfect love. He urges the subject upon the at¬ 
tention of those who listen to him. The mere 
theory has no prominence, if indeed he takes any 
particular interest in it. He has a message upon 
his heart to deliver, and he puts it forth as a con¬ 
viction of his own mind, or a gushing emotion of 
his own heart. Moreover, te is, with all his eccen¬ 
tricities, wondrously natural. There is no art or 
guile about him. He never would be judged as 
crafty or cunning, but is as artless as a child. All 
who listen to what little he does say are impressed 
that he speaks from conviction and feeling. All 
these, and many other kindred elements of char- 


fflS BIRTH AND EARLY LIRE. 


35 


ftcter, which might be alluded to, in some measure 
will explain why it is that such wonderful results 
follow his labors. 

“ But if we would know the true secret of his 
power, we must look beyond all such considera¬ 
tions. His sincerity, unction, confidence, sim¬ 
plicity, &c., all combined, do not settle the ques¬ 
tion with which we started. He succeeds, as we 
believe, because he is truly devout and pious, and 
is living in constant and closest fellowship with 
the Holy Ghost. He prays much in secret, and 
learns for himself the method and fulness of sal¬ 
vation on his knees. He prays more than he 
studies, and his emotional nature is continually 
aglow with the love of Christ, and a desire to save 
souls. He is enamored with the work of soul¬ 
saving. His religious experience, for one so 
young, all things considered, is truly wonderful. 
Before he attained the enjoyment of the blessing 
of entire sanctification he gave no evidence of 
any remarkable gifts or enduements. But as soon 
as he came to know by experience the fulness of 
God, he became mighty in word and work.'* 


36 


THE BOY PREACHES. 


CHAPTER II. 

SUMMERFIELD AND HARRISON. 

Just at the close of the last century Rev. John 
Summerfield was born in Preston, England. His 
career was so short and brilliant, and he drew such 
crowds to hear him, that his name has been men¬ 
tioned in connection with that of Mr. Harrison. 
There was a mighty contrast between them. 

1. In the matter of their pulpit ministration. 

2. In their manners of public address. 

Still there were many points of analogy upon 
which I wish to dwell. 

1. They were both born of pious parents, and had 
the Christian training that only such parents can 
give. 

2. They were both converted in early life, 
though Mr. Summerfield became a wild youth 
before he was converted. Mr. Harrison was 
never ranked among wild young men. 

3. They were both baptized with the Holy 
Ghost after they were converted, and this mighty 
baptism prepared them for their future and exten- 


SUMMERFIELD AND HARRISON. 37 

give usefulness. Summerfield says, u I received 
an unction from on high.” So did Mr. Harrison. 

4. They both began to preach while they were 
very young. The baptism of the Holy Ghost was 
like fire shut up in their bones, and they could not 
keep still. 

Summerfield began to preach with great power 
when he was twenty-one, and he looked much 
younger than he was. His coat was little less than 
a jacket. This, with his youthful appearance and 
delicate frame, gave him the resemblance of a boy. 

When somebody told him of his boyish coat he 
said: 

“ Why, I am nothing but a boy.” 

Mr. Harrison began to exhort when he was about 
seventeen. He was so young and so slender in 
body that he was but a boy, and even now, when 
he is twenty-six years of age, he looks very much 
like a boy. His movements are quick and boyish, 
yet, in his public labors, he has the power of a 
giant. 

5. They both had seals to their early ministry. 
These were divine attestations to their call to 
preach. The hand of the Lord was with them 
both. Three souls were converted at one of Sum- 
merfield’s earliest attempts to preach. The Lord 
owned him from the very first. He was like a 
u torch of fire in a sheaf.” So it was with Mr. 


38 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


Harrison: God converted souls by his early la 
bors, and so it has been ever since. 

6. They were both fearless, fervent, and self-sac¬ 
rificing. 

(1.) They were fearless. God filled them both 
with that perfect love that casteth out fear. So 
that they were not afraid of men or of devils; and 
this fearlessness was a great source of their 
strength. 

(2.) They were both fervent. There was a glow 
of holy fire and heavenly fervor in their souls, that 
gave them a power in their public ministrations. 
In listening to their preaching you soon felt the 
fire of their burning love. 

“ O for that flame of living fire 
Which shone so bright in saints of old I n 

(3.) They were both self-sacrificing. Summer- 
field literally wore himself out for the good of 
others. He could truly say, with the blessed 
Jesus, “ The zeal of thine house hath eaten 
me up.” He laid down his life for the good of 
others, and died in his twenty-eighth year. Brother 
Harrison is travelling in his steps, and can sing: 

“ My life, my blood, I here present, 

If for thy truth they may be spent.” 

He throws his whole soul into the work of pluck¬ 
ing sinners as brands from the burning, and build- 


SUMMERS' FELD AND HARRISON. 


39 


mg up the cause of God. It is as true now ay 
ever. Somebody must labor ; somebody must sac¬ 
rifice ; somebody must be ready to lay down their 
lives for others, or this world will never be con¬ 
verted to God. 

Not that I think Mr. Harrison will die as early as 
Mr. Summerfield, for he seems to have a stronger con¬ 
stitution, and with the divine blessing he may live 
and labor till he is fifty years of age, and become 
increasingly useful every year. Lord grant that 
he may. Amen. 

8. Summerfield had a peculiar power of elo¬ 
quence. While preaching from the text, “If a 
man believe my sayings he shall never see death,” 
he introduced a part of Pope's Address of the 
Dying Christian to his Soul: 

“What is this absorbs me quite?” 

And when he came to the line, 

“ Lend, lend your wings I 
I mount, I fly 1 ” — 

hundreds of the audience arose involuntarily from 
their seats, and the close of the quotation found 
them standing on their feet, with their heads in¬ 
clined toward the preacher, who seemed to have 
so little of humanity about him except the fettera 
that were soon to.be dropped. 


40 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


Mr. Harrison is by no means eloquent after this 
sort; still he will hold those vast audiences in the 
greatest stillness while he is telling them the sim¬ 
plest story, and they will lean over the gallery to 
listen to his inspired speech, and their hearts will 
be stirred to their deepest depth. Some of his Sun- 
day-night exhortations are indeed mighty, arous¬ 
ing the whole congregation. Many who came with 
curiosity to see the youthful preacher, have found 
themselves pierced with the arrows of the Al¬ 
mighty. They came to scoff, but they returned to 
pray. 

9. They were both followed by large congrega¬ 
tions. A minister told me recently that he did 
not know a minister, of any church, that would 
draw so great a crowd as Mr. Harrison, in the city 
of Baltimore. 

Summerfield was so elegant in his speech, and 
so cultivated in his manners, and so musical in his 
voice, that he would charm any body of people 
that came to hear him; withal, his sermons were 
studied with so much care, and delivered with so 
much eloquence, that it was the luxury of a life¬ 
time to be permitted to listen to him. Hence the 
crowds that always hung upon his lips. 

10. They were both self-educated men. Sum- 
tnerfield began at once to preach, and had finished 
his most eventful and useful life before some min- 


SUMMERFIELD AND HARRISON. 


41 


isters Lave completed their college and theological 
education. 

Mr. Harrison went to Wilbraham Academy, Mas¬ 
sachusetts, and to the Lay College in Brooklyn : 
but he did not stop long enough in either to claim 
a title to be an educated man. 

11. They both made the greatest use of what 
education they had, and extended their usefulness 
over a vast territory, and among vast multitudes 
of men. 

12. They were both evangelists in the true sense 
of the term, — wandering from place to place, and 
from State to State, and from city to city, and 
never settling down to the pastoral work. They 
sowed that others might reap. 

13. They were both born and reared, and labored, 
in the Methodist Church, and seldom labored out¬ 
side of her communion. 

14. They both had great catholicity of spirit, 
and rejoiced in the success of all the churches, 
and were willing to help them as far as it lay in 
their power. 

“ Summerfield was not a man of every day ; 
there is yet fire enough in his ashes to kindle a 
flame that will be much longer lived than him¬ 
self.” — Montgomery . 


42 


THE BOY PREACHEF. 


CHAPTER JII. 

REVIVALS IN BALTIMORE. 

I have swept round this city, this day, among 
the leading ministers of the Methodist Episco¬ 
pal Church, to find out, and gather up the facts 
relating to the labors of Rev. Thomas Harrison in 
this city. My soul has been thrilled, again and 
again, to learn the glorious and marvellous things 
that God did for this city while Mr. Harrison was 
here. It is almost impossible to tell the simple 
truths in the matter. 

There were such wonderful displays of divine 
power that the best ministers of this city never 
saw before, and some of them think they never 
will see again. 

Mr. Harrison came to Baltimore for the first 
time, in the spring of 1876, to attend the General 
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Having formed some acquaintance here, he came 
again in the fall of the same year. He preached a 
few times in Eutaw Street church, at the time of the 
General Conference, but did not stay lcng. 


CAROLINE STRERT CHURCH. 43 

Revival services were going on at Franklin 
Street church, and the pastor, Rev. S. Shannon, 
invited Mr. Harrison to come over and preach one 
evening. He did so, and the power of God was 
with him, and he remained there for several weeks. 
The interest continued till one hundred and fifty 
were converted; quite a number of them were 
saved before the evangelist began his labors. 

This was a glorious work, and showed that the 
blessing of God was upon him, and this began to 
give him power in the city. 

Franklin Street church was mightily strength¬ 
ened by this extensive and radical revival, besides 
the general good that was done to the whole re¬ 
gion around, among ministers and people. 

CAROLINE STREET CHURCH. 

Rev. J. C. Hagey was the popular pastor of this 
church, and he was in the midst of a gracious 
revival, while Mr. Harrison was finishing his labors 
at Franklin Street church. By special invitation, 
and previous engagement, he went to help the 
pastor at Caroline Street. His presence gave a 
new impetus to this work, and it rolled on in great 
power. Hand-bills were printed, and scattered 
broadcast, and every means was used to draw the 
people. It seemed easier to get sinners converted 
when the crowds came in. There is an enthusiasm 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


44 

in numbers, and men are swayed by one another. 
Mr. Harrison seemed to have more power when 
the house was packed with people; — not that 
men convert one another, but they influence one 
another. 

Mr. Harrison was just getting a permanent hold 
on the people of Baltimore ; and the meetings soon 
became so deeply interesting, that the people could 
not well keep away. And so he prospers wherever 
he goes. The pastor says, that one part of his suc¬ 
cess is in the fact, that he is perfectly independent 
of what the people may think of him, or say about 
him, and uttterly careless how many times he uses 
the same hymn, or tells the same story, if they 
only serve to bring souls to the altar. He will go 
on in the same line as long as it succeeds, and 
then take up another. He is utterly abandoned to 
success ; anything to win a soul, and help on the 
cause of Christ. There were ninety-seven con¬ 
verted in this revival. The church was wonder¬ 
fully quickened, and many substantial members 
were added to it. 

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow, 

Praise him all creatures here below,” 

Some time after this revival, and while Mr. Har¬ 
rison was having such mighty victories at Union 
Square church, Mr. Hagey met Mr. Harrison, and 


8T. JOHN’S INDEPENDENT CHURCH. 45 


Baid to him, “ How do you account for such a 
wonderful work ? ” 

“ I do not account for it at all,” said Mr. Harri¬ 
son, 11 it is the work of God I ” 

u You must do a great deal of fasting and prayer 
to obtain so much power/’ said Mr. Hagey. 

“ Ah, there you have it; that is the secret,” said 
Mr. Harrison. 

And because he so fully relies upon the power 
of God, he is independent, to a great extent, of 
the help, or of the opinions of men. It is wonder¬ 
ful how free a man feels who has God to lean 
upon. 

Oh, when will all God’s ministers secure this 
wonderful power, and learn to stand alone with 
God I who says , 11 They that honor me, I will honor.” 
Oh, that all his ministers would 

“Make good their apostolic boast; 

Their high commission fully prove: 

Be temples of the Holy Ghost, 

And filled with faith, and hope, and love.” 

SAINT JOHN’S PROTESTANT INDEPENDENT CHURCH. 

About this time Mr. Harrison was called to 
assist Rev. J. Jones, (who has since died in the 
triumphs of faith,) in revival services. 

Many souls were converted in this revival. It 
was a great victory for the time spe it there. 


46 


THE BOY PREACHES 


At this time the eyes of the city of Baltimore 
were upon Mr. Harrison, and the pastors were 
wondering if it would be expedient to invite him 
into the large churches of the city. Solomon says, 
“ A man’s gift shall make room for him.” So in 
this case it was a true proverb, for the wonderful 
gift of the Holy Ghost, which was bestowed upon 
Mr. Harrison, made room for him in many of the 
churches of this ancient city. 

Rev. W. Downs, the presiding elder, took a 
special interest in Mr. Harrison, and recommenced 
him to the Rev. Dr. France, pastor of the Union 
Square church. 

REVIVAL AT UNION SQUARE CHURCH. 

This is a large and substantial brick church, and 
became the place of spiritual power, and of heav¬ 
enly glory, as manifested in a revival that led about 
one thousand souls to Christ. 

These meetings commenced February 6, 1877, 
with great power. It pleased God to pour out his 
spirit so mightily that the people would pack the 
house for an hour and a half before the time of 
service, and some would stand on the sidewalk all 
the evening to hear the singing. And so awfully 
were the sinners convicted that they would rush 
forward to the altar, even before they were invited, 


REVIVAL AT UNION SQUARE CHURCH. 47 

bo that, before the opening services were concluded, 
they would rush to the altar for prayer. 

Many times they had to take the evening col¬ 
lection over the heads of an altar full of mourners. 
Strong men were seen literally pressing through 
the crowds, with their overcoats on their arms 
and their hats in their hands. One man could not 
get down the stairs from the gallery very well ,* 
so he came sliding down one of the bannisters of 
the church, to get to the altar. 

It was perfectly marvellous to see so many per¬ 
sons under the deepest conviction, and crying to 
God for salvation. They were glad to do any¬ 
thing to get rid of the burden of their sins. Many 
of them felt that they must be saved or die. 

No altar was large enough to hold them. So 
this work went on, week after week, and month 
after month, till the converts were numbered by 
the hundred. The pastor was very careful to 
examine every convert himself, so that there 
should be no sham work. He asked each of them : 

“ Are you saved ? ” 

“ Do you know it?” 

When they could answer in the affirmative, the 
pastor allowed them to sing the doxology. 

This revival swept on and on till nearly nine 
hundred and forty souls were recorded at the 
church. How many were saved at their homes, 


48 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


whose names were not taken, we cannot tell. God 
knows. How many weak believers were made 
strong, how many ministers were newly inspired 
for their work, and how much sin was prevented, 
we shall never know. 

The best of it is, that it was no sham work. 
Men were struck under conviction, and groaned in 
their souls till they were radically saved of God. 
Rev. Mr. Hildt, one of the oldest ministers of the 
city, says of these meetings, and of this work of 
grace : “ For pungent conviction, and thoroughness 
of conversion, this work surpasses anything I have 
ever seen.” 

Judge Supplee, one of the grandest men of Bal¬ 
timore, says: “ The solemn awe that at times 
rested upon the congregation excelled everything 
I ever felt or witnessed, in all my religious expe¬ 
rience. Nor have I ever witnessed a deeper or 
more pungent conviction, or clearer or sounder 
conversions. I consider this one of the most gra¬ 
cious, powerful, and extensive revivals, in a single 
church, of this or of any other age, since the days 
of the apostles.” 

The above is, in substance, the testimony of all 
the pastors I have consulted with, and all the lay¬ 
men, too. 

Rev. W. Downs says : “ It was the most remark¬ 
able work of grace I ever saw. I never saw more 


REVIVAL AT UNION SQUARE CHURCH. 49 

marked and powerful conversions, — more after 
the old times. I never knew a work so deep, 
thorough, and extensive. There was such a rush 
to the altar, that before the first opening hymn 
was sung they would begin to come, till some¬ 
times Brother Harrison would tell them not to 
come till he invited them.” 

Basket collections had to be taken over the 
heads of fifty or sixty penitents. 

Dr. France kept a faithful record of what became 
of the converts, and how many joined the church, 
and also how many joined the other churches; and 
he declares that the falling away of the converts 
was only three per cent., whereas in ordinary 
revivals it is thirty-three per cent. 

Now let the reader realize, if he can, the mag¬ 
nitude of the work that this “ boy preacher ” has 
done in this city up to this time. He came here 
a mere stripling, and almost a perfect stranger, 
fresh from Dr. Talmage’s Lay College, and only 
twenty-two years of age. His peculiar ways 
helped to prejudice many against him at first 
sight. He lies low before God, and abides his 
time. God opens one door after another till a 
great and effectual door is opened, and there is 
such a sweep of divine life that nearly ten hun¬ 
dred are put on record, after careful examination, 
who have been converted in one church. And a 
4 


50 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


whole city bows in respect to the man whom God 
delighted to honor. Everybody seems to stand in 
awe before God. 

The great harvest of souls gathered at Union 
Square church was well cared for by the faithful 
pastor, after Mr. Harrison left. Months after this 
I read, in the Christian Standard , by Rev. J. S. 
Inskip, as follows : — 

u The good fruits of the great revival remain, 
and are being carefully harvested by Dr. France 
and an efficient body of official brethren, who are 
working most faithfully in looking after the new 
converts. It is a good place for “ young converts ” 
to live and grow. Class-meetings are attractive, 
and well attended, and the prayer-meetings are 
spiritual and animated. They are just such meet¬ 
ings as benefit, as well as interest, the people. It 
is a spiritual church, and all their operations seem 
to be conducted with reference to spiritual ends.” 

I had the unspeakable privilege of preaching in 
this Union Square church last Sabbath evening. 
I confess that I felt a sacred awe come over my 
spirit at the remembrance of the wonderful times 
of power that they had enjoyed in that church. 
The revival spirit has been in it ever since. 
Eighteen have been converted there lately, and 
four or five were seeking salvation the night that 
I preached there. Glory to God forever and ever ! 
Amen and amen. 


REMARKS. 


61 


REMARKS. 

1. This whole religious movement, under this 
simple-hearted evangelist, illustrates the fact that 
in this age of intelligence it does not require much 
book learning or college training to subdue the 
people before God. 

2. That, as in olden times, a man can now sway 
the masses, and lead them to Christ, if he is filled 
with the Holy Ghost and fully consecrated to his 
work. 

3. That God can use the weakest worm to thresh 
the greatest mountain. God seems to have said 
to Mr. Harrison: “ Fear not, thou worm Jacob, I 
will help thee, saith the Lord and thy Redeemer, 
the Holy One of Israel. Behold I will make thee a 
new, sharp threshing instrument, having teeth, and 
thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them 
small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.” 

This brother has so much power that the largest 
crowds do not move him at all. With a few sim¬ 
ple words, and a shout of “ Glory to God,” he 
moves his vast congregations, from one end to the 
other. There is such a divine energy in him that 
he will hold and interest the same congregation, 
month after month, and will keep them spell-bound 
while he relates the simplest story, that they have 
beard him tell forty times before. 


52 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


I have seen him come in, and walk to the front 
of the platform, start a hymn, and suddenly he will 
speak a few words, on some special point, and the 
whole congregation is moved. 

I would to God that all gospel ministers would 
hear God saying to them, u Pear thou not, for I 
am with thee ; be not dismayed, for I am thy God. 
I will strengthen thee ; yea, I will help thee. Yea, 
I will uphold thee with the right hand of my 
righteousness.” 

I am fully persuaded that no amount of reason¬ 
ing will ever melt the human soul. It takes the 
lightning flashes of the Holy Ghost to penetrate 
the hidden recesses of the human soul, and lay 
bare the human conscience, and make the sinner 
feel the weight of his sin, and start the cry, u God 
be merciful to me a sinner.” 

There is a secret, mysterious, and all-penetrating 
power that accompanies the words of some minis¬ 
ters, and makes them mighty over men and devils. 
Let every minister and layman learn this great 
fact, and place his entire confidence for success in 
the power of the Holy Ghost. 


BALTIMORE REVIVALS CONTINUED. 


68 


CHAPTER IV. 

BALTIMORE REVIVALS CONTINUED — MADISON SQUARB 
REVIVAL. 

Rev. G. G. Baker was pastor at Madison Square, 
and had waited for nearly a year to have Mr. Har¬ 
rison come and help him in revival work. At length 
he came, and God came with him, for souls were 
converted in the very first service that they held 
together. Mr. Harrison’s popularity was so great 
that the church was packed from the first. So 
great was the crowd, and so extensive was the in¬ 
terest, that sometimes the meetings were held in 
the church and in the vestry at the same time; 
the pastor taking charge in the vestry, and Mr. 
Harrison going down occasionally and giving a 
new inspiration to the meeting, meanwhile the pas¬ 
tor taking charge of the meeting in the church. 

The masses gathered from every quarter, in¬ 
cluding many that had not been to church for 
many years. The spirit of God smote them on 
every hand, and they crowded the altar and the 


54 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


mercy seat, night and day. One man w as such a 
noted sinner, and such a fierce character, that some 
were afraid to go and speak to him. At length 
the pastor ventured to do so, and was surprised 
to find that this poor sinner was subdued by the 
Holy Ghost, and ready to go at once to the aitai 
for prayers. He was a man of mind, and became a 
good worker in the church. He lived and labored 
for Christ only two years, when God took him to 
his eternal home in heaven. 

The tidal wave of salvation rolled so high that it 
reached many souls that had lain upon the shores 
for many years. Some who had been seeking sal¬ 
vation for six or eight years were brought into 
the experience of true religion in those meetings. 
Many members of other churches were brought by 
the light of the Holy Spirit to see that they had 
never been converted. They broke down before 
God, and went to the altar and found salvation. 
Mr. Harrison would find them out in the congre¬ 
gation, and ask them, “Are you converted? Do 
you know it ? ” They became so thoroughly com 
victed of sin that they were willing to do anything 
to obtain salvation. Some of them could neither 
eat nor sleep till they found Christ as their true 
Saviour. Members of the Universalist church were 
radically converted, and became great workers in 
their own church. Many Roman Catholics were 


BALTIMORE REVIVALS CONTINUED. 55 

led to see the folly of confessing to the priest, and 
they confessed to the Lord Jesus Christ, and ob¬ 
tained the pardon of their sins, without money and 
without price. They learned to sing,— 

** Nothing can for sin atone, 

Nothing but the blood of Jesus; 

Naught of good that I have done, 

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” 

They became good workers in the Protestant 
churches, to the great grief of their former lead¬ 
ers, the priests. 

The pastor says that sixty children came to the 
altar in one night, and that forty-eight of them 
were converted that night, and forty-two the next 
night. Many of these children were from other 
Sabbath schools, and some of them from no Sab¬ 
bath school. The converts were organized into a 
praying band, and they went to work among their 
friends, and brought in their reports before the 
public meeting. This was in the early stage of 
the meeting. 

Mr. Harrison had a wonderful faculty of getting 
others to work. One man, who had a large factory, 
brought over thirty of his men to those meetings, 
and they were converted. I am glad to record 
that while Mr. Harrison is exceedingly discreet 
with young ladies, so that I have not heard a 
whisper against him in that direction, yet be is 


56 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


an apostle to young men, and wins multitudes of 
them to Christ. They naturally gather around 
him. 

It is remarkable, too, that this meeting was 
within rifle-shot of where Mr. D. L. Moody was 
holding services. Both churches were crowded; 
but it was evident that there was the greatest 
manifestation of divine power at Madison Square; 
so that while other ministers suspended their 
meetings for Mr. Moody’s meeting, Mr. Moody 
thought it wa3 best to continue meetings at Mad¬ 
ison Square. 

The meetings at Madison Square ran on for six¬ 
teen weeks; and such weeks of triumph and sal¬ 
vation that church never saw before or since. So 
radical and thorough was the conviction of sinners, 
that one man said it seemed as though he should 
drop into hell before he got to that altar. 

Mr. Harrison has the Bible for his text-book, and 
revivals for his sermon; or rather revival stories 
make up the substance of all his preaching. Some¬ 
times he thinks he was not called to preach and 
teach, but to exhort and get men to act. Others 
may do the preaching and the teaching; his aim 
is the immediate conversion of sinners. This is 
all his theme out of meeting, as well as in meeting. 
It is hard work to get him to talk about anything 
else Some said he could not preach a sermon; 


BALTIMORE REVIVALS CONTINUED. 57 

but Mr. Baker says he heard him preach one ex¬ 
cellent sermon. Still, he makes himself of no rep¬ 
utation on this line, and sets aside all the ordinary 
rules of others, and begins his meetings, and car¬ 
ries them on, in the most informal manner. They 
are without form or comeliness. 

There were times when the power of God was 
so manifest in these meetings that the people 
were spellbound. They stood in awe before God, 
for his majesty was great among them. A trem¬ 
bling would take hold of the congregation. They 
would quiver, and hardly know what to think or 
what to expect from God or man. Some of his 
exhortations were with tremendous power, and so 
awful was the conviction, that sinners would press 
their way from the gallery, through the vestibule, 
and up through the crowded aisles, to get to the 
altar before they fell into the fit of despair. When 
one of these had got as far as the vestibule they 
told him he could not get through the crowd to 
the altar. 

“ Then I must kneel down here ; 99 and he fell 
upon his knees, crying for mercy. When they saw 
his earnestness, they made a way for him, and on 
he pressed, to bow at the altar, before God. This 
shows that there was no surface work in this re¬ 
vival. Sinners were told the awful end of the 


58 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


wicked, and especially the glorious end oi the 
righteous. 

This leads me to notice that Mr. Harrison dwells 
mainly upon the joys and triumphs of the Chris¬ 
tian life, and the grace and goodness of God, as 
the basis of his plea with sinners, rather than upon 
the terrors of hell. 

He reaches men upon the practical and experi¬ 
mental side; yet he is faithful to warn them of the 
eternal consequences of a life of sin, and tells 
them that God will hold them responsible for these 
invitations of mercy, and that he will appear 
against them at the bar of God unless they re¬ 
pent. 

Every person converted was put upon record, 
and “ The Ladies and Pastor’s Union ” visited 
every case; so that the work was carefully hus¬ 
banded, under the care of the pastor; and thus 
other members of those families were found out. 
Take the following for an example. First, a young 
man was converted, then his lady, then his mother, 
then his sister, then her husband, then her hus¬ 
band’s partner in business, then the young man’s 
father was converted, and then his cousin. 

And so the good work went on, from conquer¬ 
ing to conquer, till seven or eight hundred pro¬ 
fessed conversion; and so great was the mem¬ 
bership of this church, that if they had all come 


BALTIMORE REVIVALS CONTINUED. 


59 


to church at one time, some two hundred of them 
would have had to stand, or sit in the aisles ; for 
the seats of the church were not large enough to 
hold them. 

There were over one thousand members to be 
cared for, and the responsibility was fearfully 
great. This was at the closing up of the pastor’s 
third year, so that he had to leave them to the 
care of his successor in office, Rev. R. Norris, who 
found work enough for two men, and found it im¬ 
possible to do all he would have been glad to have 
done, for this mass of immortal beings. I had a 
long conversation with him about the work, and 
he declared that the revival was as genuine, and 
as thorough a work of God, and as lasting, as any 
he ever saw of its dimensions. This brother is a 
revivalist himself, and has a glorious revival going 
on now, in this same church. Thirteen were seek¬ 
ing salvation one night last week. 

In the midst of Mr. Harrison’s meetings, a friend 
writes as follows: 

“ The great revival at Madison Square church, 
led by Rev. Thomas Harrison, the evangelist, has 
been in progress over eight weeks, and the pcwer 
and interest manifested are constantly increasing. 
The work is perfectly wonderful, and fathers, 
mothers, and children, are nightly seeking relig¬ 
ion. Over three hundred and twenty have already 


60 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


professed conversion, more than one hunched of 
whom are men. Nearly two hundred have joined 
the church where he labors, and nearly that num¬ 
ber are still seeking religion. Brother Harrison 
is popular, and greatly beloved by ministers who 
know him well. He never preaches, or tries to 
preach, at any of his meetings, nor does he give 
others the chance. Indeed, it looks as if preach¬ 
ing were at a discount now in this city; and some 
of our ablest ministers confessed recently at our 
Preachers’ Meeting, that their best pulpit efforts 
have been a failure, and that intellectual sermons 
don’t save souls or meet the real wants of hu¬ 
manity.” 


PURE CHANNEL. 

Yesterday I heard a glorious sermon by Dr. 
Gaurd of Mount Vernon Church, Baltimore. At 
the close I asked a member of this church what 
he thought of Rev. Mr. Harrison. He said, 
“ He is a pure channel, through which the 
grace of God can flow.” How true this is! 
He is a simple-hearted man of God ; and God 
streams through him, as clear light does through a 
clean pane of glass. There is no obstruction to the 
light, no setting up of self, no elaborate argu- 
ment to perplex the sinner’s mind, no flourish of 
trumpets. Then I looked up at the beautiful 


EMORY CHURCH, BALTIMORE. 61 

stained glass of the windows of this Mount Yernon 
Church, that look so pleasing to the eyes, and yet 
so obstruct the light of the sun that artificial light 
has to be used in a dark day. And thus it is with 
many ministers. They have so much of the beauti¬ 
ful and ornamental in their sermons that they daz¬ 
zle the eyes, and becloud the hearts, of their 
hearers, and shut out the divine light. The sun 
of righteousness cannot shine through them. Lord, 
have mercy upon us ! Amen. 

EMORY CHURCH, BALTIMORE. 

After leaving Ryland Church, Washington, he 
came to assist Rev. S. M. Hartsock, at Emory 
Church. The pastor reports that there were won¬ 
derful displays of the power of God. Not only 
was the church packed in every part, but the 
altar was crowded with penitents, and converts 
multiplied on every hand. But all this was not 
gained without a mighty conflict. 

Rev. R. Norris says that he attended some of 
these meetings, and that one night, after brother 
Harrison had sang, and prayed, and exhorted, not 
a single sinner would come forward to the altar. 
He turned and invited the ministers to exhort, but 
they all refused. Not a single souk would stir to 
some forward. Brother Harrison sprang on to the 
table, and said, “ It is no use to look to me. There 


62 


THE BOY PREACHEB. 


is something wrong here. I cannot help you. Let 
all the people bow their heads, and look to God.” 
Then he began to pray one of the most powerful 
and pathetic prayers that ever fell from mortal 
lips. He told God that some people were saved 
by reasoning, some by eloquence; but he could not 
move them without the Holy Ghost, and he cried 
to God for the spirit to be poured upon that whole 
congregation, and he kept on praying till the peo¬ 
ple began to sob and cry all over the church, so 
that they could be heard. He kept on praying till 
he had told the Lord all about the matter, and 
claimed the victory by an unwavering faith. 

When he finished praying the people came rush¬ 
ing to the altar till fifty souls were there, crying 
for mercy, and many of them were converted that 
very night. 

1. This shows that he is a man of faith. 

2. That he is a man acquainted with God, who 
knows how to call upon him in the day of trial, and 
secure deliverance. 

3. That he is a man of courage, who would not 
yield to discouragements in the darkest emer¬ 
gency. 

4. That he is a man of prayer, who lives in close 
communion with God in secret, and therefore God 
has rewarded him openly. 

5. That he is a skilful general, who could, by 


EMORY CITURCH, BALTIMORE. 63 

calling upon God, turn that apparent defeat into a 
glorious victory. 

6. This should teach all God's ministers to go 
and do likewise. 

This revival at Emory Church was wonderful 
indeed. Hundreds were truly converted to God. 
The church was so literally packed with people an 
hour or two before the time that it was difficult for 
the ministers to get into the pulpit; yet through 
that dense mass the mourners would press to the 
altar from every part of the church, night after 
night, and month after month; and many times 
they would rush to the altar before they were 
invited, and before the opening prayer had been 
offered, so that sometimes Mr. Harrison could not 
speak more than five or ten minutes before the 
whole meeting was turned into an altar service, 
and souls were saved every night, and sometimes 
in large numbers. 

Some of the meetings were held day and even¬ 
ing, and some of the people would stay at the 
church all day long. It was something as it was 
on the day of Pentecost, when they were daily in 
the temple, and of one accord, and the Lord added 
to the church daily such as were saved. The pas¬ 
tor says Mr. Harrison would come into the church 
and say, “ We shill have a wonderful time in this 
meeting to-night. I have been with God, and he 


64 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


tells me his secrets. I have prevailed with God 
in prayer, and I know we shall prevail with the 
people. ,, Whole families were converted to God. 

This whole revival was a marvellous manifesta¬ 
tion of divine power and saving mercy. Multi¬ 
tudes were in the valley of decision, and multi¬ 
tudes were born into the family of God. 

There was a vast increase of membership in the 
Baltimore conference during these revivals. One 
presiding elder reported an increase of thirteen 
hundred members. 

For about two years Mr. Harrison made Balti¬ 
more his headquarters, from which he made ex¬ 
cursions to Trenton, N. J., to Washington, D. C., 
and to Georgetown, D. C., and attended the camp- 
meetings in Ohio and Pennsylvania. 


BEVTVAL8 IN WASHINGTON. D. 0, 


65 


CHAPTER Y. 

REVIVALS IN WASHINGTON, D. €. 

Just before going to Washington, Mr. Harrison 
held a successful series of revival meetings in 
Trenton, N. J. Large crowds flocked to the great 
church to hear that young evangelist, and many 
were converted. But the work was not so exten¬ 
sive as in some places, because Mrs. Lowrey, the 
converted actress, had labored in the same church, 
and had seen about four hundred conversions. 
Still the interest was so great that Mr. Harrison 
had to delay the work in Washington for two 
weeks, to proclaim salvation to the multitudes that 
hung upon his lips in Trenton. 

Mr. Harrison’s first appearance in Washington 
was at the Ryland Church, to assist Rev. E. D. 
Owens, pastor, who had made incessant efforts to 
secure his services, and had waited so long that 
the revival had already begun. Many had already 
been converted. The evangelist’s presence gave 
the work a new impetus, and drew many to the 

5 


66 


THE BOV PREACHER. 


church that had not been used to attend divine 
worship. The power of God came down, and the 
revival swept on in wonderful majesty, till one 
hundred and fifty were converted to God. Some¬ 
times fifteen or eighteen were saved of God in a 
single night, and the work was deep and abiding. 

There were some very marked cases of conver¬ 
sion, — the following among the rest. Mr. Miller 
was head and shoulders taller than any other man 
in the church. He had not been used to attend 
divine worship, but was drawn in by the novelty 
of hearing a 11 boy preacher.” The Holy Spirit 
deeply awakened his conscience. The Spirit so 
fully convicted him that he pressed his way down 
the aisle, and bowed his great body before the 
mighty God, and was so gloriously converted that 
he almost leaped for joy. This was rather dan¬ 
gerous where so many were kneeling around him : 
so several of the brethren helped him over to the 
inside of the altar. Then he declared what great 
things God had done for his soul. Like the con¬ 
verted eunuch “ he went on his way rejoicing.” 
He served the Lord with all his heart, and with a 
willing mind. But in a few days he was taken 
sick with typhoid fever. When the pastor called 
to see him he said: “ It was well for me that I 
was converted. I was just in time. I have a 


REVIVALS IN WASHINGTON, D. C. 67 

power in my soul that makes me rejoice in hope of 
heaven.” 

He told his experience to the unconverted doc¬ 
tor who attended him, and this so deeply im¬ 
pressed his mind that he wept, while he said to his 
pastor: “ I never heard anything like it. It was 
wonderful to see a man so happy in the near 
approach of death. It was a strong evidence of 
the power of Divine grace.” 

His faith never wavered. Although he was 
away from home, seeking a place in the Govern¬ 
ment employ, and was cut off in the midst of his 
purposes, yet his trust was in God, and he was not 
afraid to enter into the rest of heaven. He talked 
to all that called upon him, as far as he was able. 
His soul was all illuminated with the light of 
heaven. And thus he was translated from the 
capital of the nation to the capital city of the 
universe — the home of the King of kings, Father. 
Son, and Holy Ghost. He lived only twenty-seven 
days after he was converted. Thank God ! the 
converts die well. 

Brother Harrison had to hurry away to Emory 
Church, Baltimore, but the pastor carried on the 
meetings after the evangelist left, and one hundred 
and thirty joined the church in full membership. 
The pastor speaks in glowing terms of Mr. Harri¬ 
son’s labors. He says : “ I studied 1 im inside and 


68 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


out, and worked with him in glorious harmony, 
Fifty souls were at the altar the night Mr. Har¬ 
rison left.” The pastor took delight in accompany¬ 
ing Mr. Harrison all the way to the Emory Church 
parsonage, Baltimore, and gave him a hearty in¬ 
troduction to the pastor and his family. 

REVIVAL AT GEORGETOWN. 

Rev. R. Norris was three years pastor of the 
Dumbarton Street church, Georgetown. He was 
favored with several revivals during this time. In 
his third year about fifty were converted, which 
made up about all that he could gather in from his 
church and congregation. He prevailed upon Mr. 
Harrison to come and help him to gather in from 
abroad. This was in the fall of 1878. 

There was a conflict of faith the first few nights, 
but soon the victory came. The house was packed, 
from week to week, for six weeks, till nearly every 
family in the city was reached. It is said to be 
the most glorious revival of religion ever experi¬ 
enced in that aristocratic city. All classes and 
ranks of society were reached, especially that class 
that needed saving. Hundreds were converted; 
two hundred and twenty joined this church on 
probation, and one hundred and eighty joined in 
full membership. 

Georgetown will never forget the labors of this 


FOUNDRY CHURCH. 


young evangelist. The good done can never be 
estimated. Eternity will tell the mighty results 
of this wonderful work of God. 

The next church in Washington that Mr. Harri¬ 
son labored in was Twelfth Street Methodist Epis¬ 
copal Church, Henry Nice, pastor. The meetings 
continued for three weeks, and forty persons are 
reported as converted. This is about all I can 
learn of these meetings. This was of infinite value 
to this church and people, and is far more converts 
than some churches have in a whole year. 

After a few days’ rest at his home in Boston, 
this tireless evangelist was called to test his faith 
and skill in revival services in the Foundry Church, 
the central and leading Methodist church in Wash¬ 
ington. 


FOUNDRY CHURCH. 

Doctor Lanahan was the faithful pastor of this 
church, and was anxious to have the people of his 
congregation converted. A reporter in Zion's Her¬ 
ald says : u The protracted meeting soon devel¬ 
oped into a most powerful revival ; for forty days 
and nights, up to this time, the most glorious and 
powerful revival that has ever occurred in Wash¬ 
ington. Dr. Lanahan labored hard ; but the prin¬ 
ciple work fell upon Mr. Harrison. He possesses 
a wonderful power in the management of the vast 


ro 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


crowds that attend these services. He has evi¬ 
dently studied, with some patience and care the 
master passions of the soul; and when he has the 
congregation aroused upon the subject of religion, 
he leads them to a decision by a sudden dramatic 
surprise. He seems to have carried art, in this 
particular, to something like perfection. This 
meeting is still in progress, with undiminished in¬ 
terest. Two hundred have been converted, and a 
large number are seeking salvation.” 

Another correspondent writes for The Methodist , 
published in New York : 

WASHINGTON. 

“ The principal feature of church work in this 
city, at present, is the * great revival ’ now going 
on at the Foundry M. E. Church, Dr. Lanahan, pas¬ 
tor. He is assisted by the Rev. Thomas Harrison. 
He is doing a wonderful work for God and his 
church in the conduct of this revival. More than 
one hundred have been converted, and joined the 
church, and about three hundred have risen in 
their places and asked for prayers. Its influence 
is reaching the churches of other denominations, 
and some attend the meetings and join their Meth¬ 
odist brethren in the altar work. While it is true 
this glorious work of God concentrates at the 
Foundry Church, as the great controlling head, all 


WASHINGTON. 


71 


the other churches are reaping a harvest from it, 
as many of the converts are transferred to the 
churches near where they live, and the preachers 
assist in the altar work. Brother Harrison will 
not leave Washington while the work of God pro¬ 
gresses with such wonderful power.” 

The Washington Post , the Democratic daily pa¬ 
per of this city, has the following notice of this 
meeting, in its issue of Friday morning, Se.ptembei 
20, 1878: “The great revival at Foundry Church, 
in its awakening, convicting, and converting power, 
is spreading over this city. The intense interest 
and excitement have become wonderful, as at every 
service persons are converted. Over two hundred 
and fifty persons have been seeking religion, and 
as yet there is no abatement in this great revival.” 
And the National Republican of this, Friday morn¬ 
ing, has the following notice : “ The crowd was so 
great last night at the great revival at Foundry 
Church that hundreds were turned away, not being 
able to gain standing-room. While the evangelist 
was speaking the interest was intense, and when 
he closed his remarks persons flocked from all 
parts of the house to the altar, seeking religion. 
The interest in this revival has beccme truly won¬ 
derful. The young evangelist will remain next 
week, and conduct revival meetings day and 
night.” 


72 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


HAMLINE METHODIST CHURCH, WASHINGTON. 

Hamline Church, J. W. McKinney pastor for six 
weeks past. Mr. Harrison, in connection with the 
pastor, has conducted a revival meeting at this 
church. He closed on Sunday night, the 18th 
instant, and left for Lima, Ohio, where he is now 
engaged in a similar meeting. The meeting at the 
Hamline Church has been a great success. This 
young man came among them when they were 
struggling hard and successfully to meet the heavy 
debt upon their church. His influence and success 
in revival work attracted the attention of the peo¬ 
ple. From the first night the church was filled, 
until the police interfered to check the crowd. 
God blessed his labors in the conversion of over 
two hundred souls. One hundred and three joined 
the Hamline Church, others joined the churches 
nearest their residences. The ordinary evening 
and Sunday collections paid all the expenses of 
Mr. Harrison’s services— paid all the extra ex¬ 
penses of the church service, and left in the treas¬ 
ury of the church one hundred and thirty dollars. 

REVIVAL IN YORK, PENNSYLVANIA. 

It is impossible to follow this evangelist round 
to all his revivals. He flies round from point to 
point, as fast as the express train can carry him. 


REVIVAL AT LIMA, OHIO. 73 

and he keeps his meetings going winter and sum¬ 
mer, autumn and spring. I find the following in 
relation to the great work done in York, Pa. The 
following appeared in Zion's Herald: 

“ Rev. Thomas Harrison has been in York, Pa., 
for several weeks, holding a meeting at the First 
M. E. Church, which has exceeded any revival held 
there for many years. Up to date nearly five 
hundred profess to have been converted. The 
papers of that entire section give daily reports of 
the meetings, and there is considerable interest 
and excitement.” 

On his way from York, Pa., to Washington, D. C., 
he called at Baltimore, and had a re-union meeting 
in the Madison Square church, Rev. R. Norris pas¬ 
tor. The admission was by ticket, and the house 
was crowded. 

REVIVAL AT LIMA, OHIO. 

Rev. Isaac Newton, pastor of the Trinity Meth¬ 
odist Episcopal Church, secured the services of 
Mr. Harrison after he left Washington, D. C. The 
local correspondent of a leading journal wrote : 

“ For five weeks two services a day have been 
held, and have been attended throughout with 
unabated interest. Scores of sinners have been 
converted, backsliders reclaimed, and believers 
quickened, resolving to lead lives of more entire 


74 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


consecration to God. As the meetings nave pro¬ 
gressed every barrier has given way; stubborn 
will-powers have melted under the wonderful man¬ 
ifestation of the Holy Spirit; strong-minded men 
have looked on with amazement , until the influence 
became so great that, yielding thereto, they found 
their way to the altar of prayer. 

“ The entire community has been stirred. Hearts 
that beat with sadness now leap for joy ; family 
altars that have been allowed to pass out of sight, 
have been rebuilt, and the families rejoicing in a 
Saviour’s love. Not in all the history of this north¬ 
west part of Ohio has there ever been such won¬ 
derful demonstrations of the Holy Spirit, moving 
upon the hearts of the unsaved, and a general 
enquiry for an experience that will lead to a better 
life. Not only has the M. E. Church been bene¬ 
fited, but nearly, if not all, the evangelical churches 
have received some good, as nightly may be seen 
young ladies and gentlemen, from families repre¬ 
senting the various churches, around one common 
mercy-seat, inquiring for salvation, and finding 
peace in believing.” 


SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 


75 


CHAPTER VI. 

SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 

Many cannot help asking, “ Where is the secret 
of his power ?” u How does he hold the people ?” 
;i How does he sustain himself so long in one place, 
and the people not become weary of his services ? ” 
1. There is a wonderful charm in his singing. 
He has selected many of the best revival melodies 
from many song-books, and he has a talented leader 
to play the organ and lead the singing, and all the 
people join till there is a divine inspiration in this 
spiritual singing , that not only cheers the saints 
but mightily stirs the hearts of the sinners. Then 
these melodies are so adapted to the occasion, and 
are sung with so much spirit and life, that they 
make a great part of the meeting. It is safe to 
say that the singing takes up half the time of the 
service before sinners are invited to the altar: 
and so powerful is this singing the people will 
stand all the evening on the sidewalk to hear itj 
who cannot enter the church, and some have been 


76 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


convicted of sin while thus standing in the street 
God is surely in this singing: and this is one secret 
of the power of these meetings. 

2. The second secret that I will mention is his 
power with God in prayer. He literally wrestles 
with God like Jacob, and prevails like Israel. So 
great is his agony in prayer, that sometimes he is 
praying on his knees and sometimes upon his feet; 
but, in either position, his sentiment is, “1 will 
not let thee go except thou bless me.” And he 
is blessed. The heavens are open to him, and the 
spirit of God comes upon him, soul and body, so 
that he cannot stand still. His whole frame seems 
to quiver with divine power; and when he speaks 
under this divine impulse his words are like a 
sword, to pierce the hearts of the sinners; or like a 
hammer, to break the most flinty heart; or like fire, 
to melt the very rocks around him. He is highly 
charged with this divine power, and it is felt in 
every part of the church. God is in the midst of 
the people , and his enemies fall before him and cry 
for mercy. This divine element in these meetings 
makes the greatest sceptic tremble, and the great¬ 
est scoffer turn pale. 

3. His unbounded faith in the gospel to save 
men is another source of his power. He seems 
to be full of faith, as well as full of the Holy Ghost. 
He acts as though he believed God had sent him 


SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 


77 


to tell men the burning truths of the gospel, in the 
fullest confidence that they will hear, and believe, 
and come to Christ. Sinners feel that he preaches 
in faith, — that he not only believes that they may 
be saved, and that they must be saved or lost eter¬ 
nally, but also that they will be saved. This mighty 
faith is inspired of God, and takes fast hold of God, 
and moves heaven, and earth, and hell. 

4. The peculiar manner and style of his address 
is another source of his power. There is such a 
constant diversity in his style of pulpit efforts that 
he keeps his congregation in a state of continual 
expectancy. From the moment he makes his ap¬ 
pearance before the audience to the time he gives 
the invitation for sinners to come forward, no one 
can tell — not even himself, it seems to me — what 
kind of effort he is going to make ; whether it will 
be sing, sing, sing, or several prayers, with exhorta¬ 
tions interspersed ; whether he will exhort once or 
twice ; whether he will read the scriptures, or sim¬ 
ply refer to them; whether he will invite sinners 
to come forward at the close of his first or second 
exhortation; whether he will preach, — which he 
seldom attempts, — or whether he will exhort only; 
whether he will stand still, and talk, — which it is 
almost impossible for him to do, — or whether he 
will run backwards and forwards across the plat¬ 
form ; whether he will speak at the top of his voice. 


78 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


or in a lower tone. In fact, it is impossible to tell 
what to look for. Therefore, you are kept looking 
all the time, and kept in a state of wonder as to 
what will be next to follow. 

This has great power over a promiscuous audi¬ 
ence, and helps to hold them night after night. 
Sometimes he will take up the large bible, and 
hold it in his hand, and impress the people with 
its sacred truths. Indeed, he resorts to every 
possible measure to interest, profit, and save the 
people. 

5. Another source of his power is the deep 
conviction that what he preaches is God’s eternal 
truth , — that it will stand forever, and that it com¬ 
mands the respect and confidence of all men ; that 
he is not telling them an idle tale, but he is deliv¬ 
ering the burning message of the everlasting God; 
that men must believe this message or they will 
expose themselves to God’s eternal displeasure. 
He does not preach as though he was in doubt of 
what he uttered, and might at some future time 
change his views, and then he would let them 
know. No, no; but he proclaims the gospel of 
the Son of God with the fullest confidence that 
what he utters is divine, and will stand forever. 
Being so fully convinced of this himself, he suc¬ 
ceeds in making others believe, and thus they are 
led to fly to Christ as their only Saviour from hell. 


SECRETS OP SUCCESS. 


79 


6. After all, and above all, the grand and glo¬ 
rious secret of this almost unparalleled success is 
the secret, invisible, and mysterious power of the 
Holy Ghost, which brought three thousand souls 
to Christ on the day of Pentecost. All men have 
been redeemed by the blood of Christ, and are 
thus far within the reach of the gospel; but no 
man will ever be saved but by the power of the 
Holy Ghost. And it is this spirit that flashes the 
truth into the sinner's conscience, and produces 
conviction, and starts the cry, “ God be merciful 
to me a sinner ! ” It is remarkable that this blessed 
spirit will produce this conviction sometimes by a 
look or a gesture, by a word or by a song, with¬ 
out the set form of a logical sermon, or of a set 
speech. Prof. Finney says that u God endued him 
with such power that a few words, dropped here 
and there, to individuals, were the means of bring¬ 
ing them to Jesus. My words seemed to fasten 
like barbed arrows in the souls of men. They cut 
like a sword. They broke the heart like a ham¬ 
mer. I have many times seen men unable to en¬ 
dure the word. The most simple and ordinary 
statements would cut men off from their seats 
like a sword, and would take away their bodily 
strength ; and this was not because I was preach¬ 
ing terror, but the sweetest tones of the gospel.” 

It is evident to men and angels that Brothel 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


Harrison has this wonderful and Pentecostal powei 
in a large degree. A few days ago I was riding 
with an intelligent man in the city of Baltimore, 
who said to me : 

“ When Mr. Harrison was in this city I refused 
to go and hear him. I said I will never go and 
hear that man. He is excited, any way, and I will 
not give my time to hear such a man preach. But 
I went on a visit where Mr. Harrison was holding 
meetings, and was persuaded to go and hear him 
just once. I did so; and before I had heard him 
but a few minutes my heart began to melt, and I 
bowed my head on the front of the pew, and he 
saw me, and almost flew to speak to me. I told 
him I was ready to go to the altar, and to give 
my heart to God. He bowed with me at the altar, 
and said he would not leave me till I was con¬ 
verted. In about fifteen minutes I was soundly 
converted to God, and have been a happy man 
ever since.” 

This reveals the power in question. The Holy 
Ghost so fully filled the minister that the fire fell 
with the word upon the heart of the hearer, and 
he was saved the self-same hour. Oh that all God’s 
ministers would seek for this power ! Then tens 
of thousands would be converted to Christ. I be¬ 
lieve it is this same power that enables him to 
go through the congregation, and speak to one 


SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 


81 


and another, and they follow him to the altar for 
prayers. I saw him go from the pulpit to a young 
man sitting by the door; the few words he spoke 
to him inclined him to go and kneel at the altar, 
and give his heart to Jesus. 

This is a wonderful power, and should be defi¬ 
nitely sought, and distinctly received, as a special 
gift of God, not only by ministers, but by all the 
people of God. 

7. Let us notice, further, that one secret of his 
success is the wisdom and tact with which he 
manages his meetings. Always on the look-out 
for something that will give him power over the 
people, and help on the work of God. Ready to 
have the meeting take any form that may accom¬ 
plish the greatest results. For instance, when that 
man from Baltimore went forward for prayers a 
minister was just ready to read his text and 
preach. Mr. Harrison said : 

“ There will be no preaching this morning. We 
want to see sinners converted.” 

To the glory of God, let it be said, that sixty 
came forward for prayers on that very invitation. 
So you see, he observed, that it was not preaching 
but prayer and invitation, that the people wanted 
and God honored his faith and wisdom. 

Only last Monday night, while he was exhorting 
he said: 


6 


82 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


u The newspapers, and some of the people, say 
that Mr. Harrison is only a * ram’s horn ! 9 Well, 
they may call me a ram’s horn if they will, but 
thank God the walls go down, and I rejoice.” 

This was so apt and timely that the whole con¬ 
gregation smiled, and yielded their assent, and one 
minister said to another on the platform,“ There 
he has them.” 

I am fully persuaded, from a long experience in 
revival work, that many ministers destroy their 
power with the people because they fail to exer¬ 
cise Godly wisdom in managing their meetings. 
The effect of one of the best sermons I ever heard 
was spoiled because the learned minister failed to 
see when the meeting had reached its climax, and 
stopped to finish his sermon and spoil the service. 
If he had closed his sermon at the highest point, it 
seemed as if the whole congregation would have 
bowed before God; whereas, only a few came for¬ 
ward for prayers. 

8. Another secret of his present success is the 
victory he has had in the past. God has given 
him so many victories that the faith of the church 
and of the people -are in such constant exercise 
that they keep up a constant expectation that if 
he will only come and labor in their church they 
will surely have salvation. Then he has conquered 
Satan and his power so many times that he confi- 


SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 


83 


dently expects to do it again. Besides, the nar¬ 
ration of past triumphs goes far to inspire faith for 
present victories. So that the people reason, 
u What God has done in other places under his 
instrumentality he is able and willing to do again.” 
If he remains in the dust before God, and gives 
God the glory for the past, he may labor with 
much faith for success in the present or in the 
future. And I fully believe that he will. 

9. His success, in part, may be attributed to 
the fact that he keeps his heart and mind in a con¬ 
stant glow of revival fire. Laboring in camp- 
meetings in the summer, and in the churches the 
rest of the time, he keeps his heart in the love of 
Christ, and keeps the love of Christ in his heart all 
the time. And so he is always ready for duty, and 
for victory. Some ministers, of far less spiritual¬ 
ity, go off on a long vacation, and divert their 
minds, and cool off their hearts, till by the time they 
return, they and the people are so far apart, and 
so formal, that it takes a month or more to get 
themselves and the people in working order; and 
some never obtain this great point after their long 
vacations. 

I do not commend Mr. Harrison for not taking a 
vacation, for I am inclined to think that he may 
break down unless God specially sustains him or 
he takes time to rest. But I trust God will hold 


84 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


him up, and deliver him at every point, and spare 
his useful life for many, many years, and give him 
an increasing success in every year. 

10. Another source of his power is that he has 
no set of revival sermons, that are so strereotyped 
that he cai. repeat them like a school-boy saying 
his lesson. He depends very much upon the 
inspiration of the moment. At Scott M. E. Church, 
Philadelphia, some time before the public service, 
I saw him come into the minister’s study, and 
inquire for Foster’s book of Illustrations. Finding 
some striking incident, he commits it to memory, 
and then goes into the pulpit and begins to speak 
so as to introduce that anecdote, and winds up with 
an urgent plea to come to Christ. This helps to 
keep him fresh, and helps to make him depend 
upon God, and not on his manuscript. He opens 
his mind and heart to the Holy Ghost, and he is 
filled and thrilled with divine energy. There is a 
power in the very tone of his voice when he is 
filled with God. 

11. He succeeds in holding the people by his 
native eloquence . He does not follow the law of 
the schools in his elocution, for he is # a law unto 
himself, and follows the promptings of his own 
heart and the impulses of the moment. He claps 
his hands, combs his hair with his fingers, kneels 
down and offers a short prayer, rises up and runs 


SECKETS OF SUCCESS. 


85 


across the platform, strikes his hand upon the 
desk or upon the Bible, calls out a minister by 
name to witness to the truth he is uttering, speaks 
with a loud voice or in low tones, or in any other 
way that he desires to ; and this very liberty from 
the rules of bondage gives him a power over the 
people. 

Yet, let it be understood, that all the while that 
he is acting in this way he is full of the energy of 
the Holy Ghost, and is imparting a power among 
the people that is calculated to help them not only 
to believe what he says, but also to do what he 
wants, — for after all, this divine power, and this 
alone, will lead men to fall before God, and seek 
salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus. Yet those 
other things serve to hold their attention while he 
pierces them with the sword of the Spirit, till they 
cry out, u Men and brethren, what must we do ? ” 

In this way he has won to God not only the 
young people but many heads of families, and not 
a few persons of note, who have fallen, like Saul of 
Tarsus, before the blazing light of eternal truth. 

It was only a few days ago that I heard a young 
minister preach, who stood so still, and spoke in 
such a quiet and uniform manner, and with such a 
set tone of voice, that it was hard work for me to 
keep awake. Yet I was interested, and went on 
purpose to hear this good young man, who has 


86 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


just been ordained a pastor of a large church. 
Such preaching, though it be ever so exact, will 
fail to deeply impress men, or to awaken theii 
consciences. It seems like sowing good seed by 
the way-side. Men must be aroused from their 
slumbers. Look at Whitefield, with his hands 
uplifted to heaven, beseeching men to turn to God, 
and speaking with a voice like thunder. God 
says to ministers now, as of old, u Lift up thy 
voice like a trumpet,” “ Cry aloud, and spare not.” 

We must have life in the pulpit if we would 
have it in the pews. A dead preacher will have a 
dead congregation, and ministers have got to learn 
the truth of the proverb, that “ a live dog is better 
than a dead lion .” We must have more vivacity 
in the pulpit if we would have more life in the 
pews, — and this is, indeed, one of the great 
sources of success with the subject of this book. 
It is not enough that a man preaches a good ser¬ 
mon, he must utter it in such a manner as to im¬ 
press and inspire the people. If he stands up and 
reads an excellent essay, that has taken him a 
week to write out, in a formal and precise manner, 
it will be like trying to thaw people by letting 
them look at an iceberg, or trying to warm them 
by showing them a painted fire, or trying to keep 
them awake by singing a lullaby. 

12. He succeeds, further, because he knows how 


8ECRETS OF SUCCESS. 


8? 


to deal with men. The first time I saw him in a 
prayer-meeting he invited those to arise who 
wanted to become Christians. A number arose. 
Then he said : 

" I will never tease people to become Christians. 
I will warn them of their danger, and invite them 
to Christ, and then leave the responsibility with 
them.” 

Then I found, in Philadelphia, that he boarded 
two miles from the church, away from the people. 
When I asked him the reason of this, he said, 11 1 
find that I am overrun with callers if I live too near 
the church; besides, I find that it does not do to 
be too familiar with the people. If I do I am liable 
to say something that they will be likely to mag¬ 
nify, and so I lose my influence.” This shows 
great wisdom, that some preachers seem to forget, 
or have never learned. 

13. On the other hand, he is not so dignified 
that the people cannot approach him. He is as 
simple and humble as a child, and knows how to 
speak the wise word, at the right time, to the right 
person. 

14. Another secret of his success is that he 
does not destroy the influence of one exhortation 
by changing the subject in the next; for really he 
has but one subject, and that is salvation. This is 
nis theme, and his delight; and he urges this upon 


88 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


the hearts and consciences of the people from week 
to week and from year to year. Still, he is not at 
all tedious or wearisome. The people listen with 
rapt attention while he unfolds the great salva¬ 
tion of the gospel, its blessedness, its procuring 
cause, the danger of delaying it, and its freeness 
and fulness; and this is really the sum and sub¬ 
stance of all evangelical preaching. 

Now, if these are the secrets of his success, then 
how blessed it would be if all ministers would learn 
them, and then tread in his steps as far as they 
can, especially in his close walk with God, and in 
his humble dependence on the Holy Ghost for vic¬ 
tory. 


OAMP-MEETING LABORS. 


89 


CHAPTER YIL 

CAMP-MEETING LABORS. 

It is amazing how this dear brother can endure 
the incessant labors of revival in the churches in 
the fall, winter, and spring, and then attend so 
many camp-meetings in the summer. Surely he is 
sustained by the prayers of the tens of thousands 
of his friends, and by the almighty power of God. 

In the fall of 1877 I met him at the Emory Grove 
Camp-meeting, Maryland, where he was so abun¬ 
dant in labors that many feared that he would 
break down in the midst of the meetings. I en¬ 
treated for him that he be spared a little, so that 
he might live to labor in some other places. His 
labors were abundantly blessed, especially in the 
young people’s meetings, and in taking charge of 
the altar services at the preacher’s stand. He has 
the power to lead people to decide and to act on 
this great subject of religion, and many were won 
to God by his labors here. 

The last night of the meeting he had had hia 


00 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


baggage taken to the depot, and expected to leave 
before the meeting closed ; but the preacher of 
the evening lacked the power, in his sermon, to 
stir the hearts of the people, and so there was 
no victory or enthusiasm at the end of the ser¬ 
mon, and the last night was likely to be a de¬ 
feat. This would not do. Somebody must turn 
the tide, somebody must enter into this gap, and 
fill it up, or the enemies of God would rejoice. 
Every mind turned toward Mr. Harrison, and the 
general inquiry was, “ Where is Mr. Harrison ? ” 
“Where is Mr. Harrison?” Soon he was found, 
and his baggage was brought back from the de¬ 
pot, and he and Rev. G. G. Baker and Dr. J. 0. 
Peck planted themselves in the midst of the 
congregation, between the sinners and the saints, 
and began to sing and exhort. At last the ranks 
of sin were broken, and sinners began to yield and 
go forward to the altar. The army of the living 
God took courage, and many found their way to 
the mercy-seat, and fell into the arms of Jesus, 
and were saved by the power of God. The meet¬ 
ing continued till three o’clock in the morning. So 
an apparent defeat was turned into a glorious vic¬ 
tory by the stone and sling of this little David, 
who, in the name of the Lord God of Israel, defied 
the army of his aliens, and slew the Goliath of 
unbelief, that had defied the God of Jacob and 


CAMP-MEETING LABORS. 


91 


Dound the hands of the Almighty. Oh for a thou¬ 
sand more of these little Davids, that will trust in 
God in the hour of trial, and go forth from conquer¬ 
ing to conquer 1 

I will here stop to say, that when I announced 
in Scott M. E. Church that I would write this book, 
I told them that we wanted a thousand Mr. Harri¬ 
sons ; and I expect that hundreds of young men 
and old men will be inspired, by reading this book, 
to go forth and perform many feats of daring in 
the face of the hellish foes, and will claim the vic¬ 
tory every time by the power of the living God. 

CAMP-MEETING IN NEW ENGLAND. 

Some years ago, a camp-meeting was dragging 
along heavily under the reign of a series of long 
and able sermons. The altar work was almost a 
failure. The people were becoming weary with 
waiting for the salvation of God. Mr. Harrison 
came on the ground sick, on Saturday morning, 
that he might take a little rest. He was soon in¬ 
vited to hold revival services. His first meeting 
was on Monday, at one o’clock, at the preacher’s 
stand. But few were present at the beginning; 
but the power of God was there, and he began to 
proclaim victory in the name of Jesus. The people 
found out that the “ Boy Preacher ” was conduct¬ 
ing a meeting, and they began to rally, till about 


92 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


three thousand were gathered at the stand. The 
altar was filled with penitents, and the saints of 
God rejoiced with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 
Mr. Harrison shouted “ Glory to God ! The power 
is coming ! Have faith in God 1 ” Sinners were 
born into the kingdom of God, and the tide of sal¬ 
vation rose higher and higher, till the time for the 
afternoon preaching. The preacher for the hour, 
seeing the excited state of things, refused to preach, 
and the meeting went on till five o’clock; so that 
for four hours the meeting lasted, and many were 
truly converted. Also in the evening the victory 
came, and the harvest was great. 

Surely God takes the foolish things of this world 
to confound the wise, and the things that are not, 
to bring to nought the things that are. 

“ Glory to God the Father be; 

Glory to God the Son; 

Glory to God the Holy Ghost; 

Glory to God alone.” 

WASHINGTON GROVE CAMP-MEETING. — Fall of 18T8. 

Mr. Harrison labored at this camp-meeting with 
great success. Great numbers were converted. 
Among them were some whole families, that prom¬ 
ise to be of great help to the church of God. Who 
can tell the results of these camp-meeting labors, 
when a man full of the Holy Ghost diffuses among 
the people the power of the gospel ? 


MARTHA’S VINEYARD CAMP-MEETING. 93 


CHESTER HEIGHTS CAMP-MEETING, PA. 

Rev. J. S. Inskip says of this camp-meeting : 
u I was permitted to attend some of those meet¬ 
ings that he had charge of at six o’clock, P. M, 
Many souls were saved, among them some marked 
cases of the wondrous power of the divine grace.” 

This camp-meeting is near the city of Philadel¬ 
phia. 

MARTHA’S VINEYARD CAMP-MEETING. 

This is one of the most popular resorts in New 
England for camp-meetings. A large and commo¬ 
dious pavilion has been erected, of iron, at great 
expense, over the pulpit and the vast auditorium. 

The wealth of many cities is represented here, 
Very able ministers are called to preach therefrom 
time to time. Mr. Harrison went to this meeting 
as the guest of Doctor Tucker. He needed rest; 
but soon the camp-meeting committee waited upon 
him, to request that he take charge of some re¬ 
vival services on the ground. His first meeting 
was on Saturday night, and great was the power 
of God that was manifested. Many found their 
way to the altar for prayer, and also into the arms 
of the blessed Jesus. 

He also held a young peoples’ meeting on Sun¬ 
day. This was a good meeting; but not such a 


94 


THE BOY PREACHER* 


great meeting as the night before. The Sunday 
evening meeting was perfectly wonderful. Mr. 
Harrison proclaimed that he expected one hundred 
to come to Christ that night. Some ladies in the 
audience smiled with contempt, it seemed so utter¬ 
ly impossible. But all things are possible with 
God. The meeting increased to the end, and it 
was thought that one hundred were seeking after 
God that night. Hour after hour passed, till it was 
nearly twelve, P. M., when it closed. At the close, 
Dr. Morrison said, “ I commend this young evan¬ 
gelist to all this region of country, and honor the 
faith of this man of God.” 

It was thought a hundred were at the altar, and 
heaven and earth were made glad. This was 
ample reward for all the criticisms that were 
heaped upon Mr. Harrison, because his ways are 
so peculiar. I am glad that he is content to be 
himself, and to act as led by the Spirit. This gives 
him power; without it, he would be weak as other 
men. 

The following is a plain statement of his labors 
in the West. I will favor the readers with a fuller 
account, if I can get the Western papers before 
this book goes to press: 


AT THE WEST. 


95 


“ THOMAS HARRISON AT THE WEST. 

“ Mr. Harrison’s first visit at the West was bj> 
invitation of the directors of Loveland camp¬ 
ground, near Cincinnati, Ohio, last July. People 
wondered if it were politic, and guessed at results, 
as his methods were altogether exceptional and 
new. 

“ Mr. Harrison accepted the call, and it may be 
safely asserted, that in one hour after his first ap¬ 
pearance and talk, the people were drawn, as a 
magnet draws the steel. God blesses and saves 
the people through this man, and the people press 
their love and kindness around him. His life away 
from work, is modest and quiet, and an almost 
boyish simplicity marks Iris intercourse with 
friends; yet he moves like one absorbed—in the 
world, but not of the world. 

“ The next work in this direction was at Lakeside, 
where he met with unprecedented success. Said 
a devout Christian lady, 1 He treads on stars, and 
he gathers them by thousands.’ Mr. Harrison has 
dosed, not long since, a glorious meeting in the 
heart of Kentucky, and it is believed that this 
interior laud has not been so stirred since the war, 
as in this charge against the powers of darkness. 
He has enshrined his memory in the hearts of this 
people. 


THE BOY BKEACHEK. 




u Mr. Harrison’s reception at the West amounted 
to an ovation, and many thousands will rise up and 
call him blessed in the day when God makes np 
his jewels.” 


WHARTON STREET OHTTROH. PA. 


97 


CHAPTER VIII. 

WHARTON STREET CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. 

This wonderful work of divine power commenced 
September 23, 1879, and is thus reported by the 
pastor: 

u Three weeks ago, Rev. Thomas Harrison, the 
young and eminently successful evangelist, came 
to Wharton Street charge, to commence a series 
of praise and revival meetings. Our people, gener¬ 
ally, had returned from their summering. Many of 
them had enjoyed the privileges and advantages of 
attendance upon camp-meetings at Ocean Grove, 
Pitman Grove, and other places. They had been 
greatly quickened in their spiritual life, and were 
earnestly praying, and eagerly working, for a re¬ 
vival of religion at home. Our congregation was, 
as usual, large, attentive, and rapidly filling up. 
The Sunday-school officers and teachers were ma¬ 
turing plans for united and aggressive work, look¬ 
ing for the blessing of God to yield a large har¬ 
vest of converted souls in this department of the 


98 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


church. Arrangements had been made by which 
we expected to have Mr. Harrison with us on the 
first of January. The outlook was hopeful and 
promising. Just then a communication was re¬ 
ceived from Mr. Harrison, stating that providential 
indications led him to conclude that it was the will 
of God he should come to Wharton Street at once, 
and commence his labors, and that we might ex¬ 
pect him the following Tuesday night. This stag¬ 
gered the faith of some. They thought it was too 
early in the season, and that the warm weather 
would militate against the success of the effort. 
But no choice was left us, and we covenanted to¬ 
gether to co-operate with him to the extent of our 
ability in seeking to promote the work of God in 
jur midst. Announcements for the initial meeting 
were accordingly made. When the evening came, 
we were surprised to find the church filled with 
a curious and eager congregation, this being Mr. 
Harrison’s first appearance in Philadelphia to con¬ 
duct a series of meetings. 

“ With naive simplicity, and consummate skill, 
in two minutes he put himself en rapport with the 
entire audience, and the very first meeting was 
one of wonderful interest and power. Every suc¬ 
ceeding meeting the interest has deepened, and 
spread marvellously. While only a little over three 
weeks have nassed, two hundred and seventy have 


WHARTON STREET CHURCH. 


99 


already professed conversion, and the work’seems 
only to have begun. With Barnum in our neigh¬ 
borhood, and the thermometer ranging about eighty 
degrees during the past week, there was no appre¬ 
ciable diminution in the attendance and interest. 
The church is tilled to its utmost capacity every 
night. One very marked feature of this most ex¬ 
traordinary movement is the number of non-church¬ 
going persons who have been attracted to the ser¬ 
vices, many of whom have been converted. And 
the end is not yet! Mr. Harrison has repeatedly 
affirmed that his faith compasses the conversion 
of a thousand souls. Why not? His methods are 
unique. He does not depend upon preaching. He 
has preached only one sermon since he has been 
with us. He says, ‘ The people know enough, 
and my mission is to get them to act on what they 
know/ He depends largely upon prayer and faith, 
— gives brief exhortations, and trains the congre¬ 
gation to hearty, enthusiastic, spiritual singing. 
The joyous element of worship largely preponder¬ 
ates. Every Christian appears very happy. May 
this gracious and glorious work continue to deepen 
and spread until the entire city is stirred and quick¬ 
ened by the spirit of God, and multitudes are saved 
from their sins 1 Theo. Stevens, 

Pastor Wharton Street M. E. Church/' 


100 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


NOTES ON THE REVIVAL AT WHARTON STREET M. E. 

CHURCH. 

u In addition to what was said in my former com¬ 
munication relative to the revival now in progress 
at Wharton Street charge, I wish to mention some 
other items. We are now in the sixth week of this 
work, and over four hundred persons have professed 
conversion. Those who come to the altar, seeking 
religion, are not taught to say they are converted 
until the Divine Spirit attests the genuineness of 
their penitence and faith, and bears witness with 
their spirits that they are born of God. Of these 
tour hundred, every one has professed to receive 
the assurance of the forgiveness of their sins, 
and the renewal of their hearts, when their names 
and residences have been taken. That God should 
have honored Mr. Harrison, as the chief agent in 
persuading so many to renounce sin and accept 
Christ as a Saviour, in so short a time, should 
cause every heart loyal to Jesus, and yearning for 
the salvation of souls, to rejoice and bid him God¬ 
speed in his great work. But murmurs of adverse 
criticism, from ministers and members, occasionally 
reach our ears. The work is characterized as ex¬ 
citement, incident upon his peculiar movements, 
rather than as the work of God. 

“ We concede that his methods are out of the 


REVIVAL AT WHARTON STREET. 101 

ordinary routine. But six weeks would seem te. 
be long enough to have satisfied all idle curiosity, 
and to have burned out mere animal excitement 
produced by unusual movements on the part of the 
evangelist; and yet the crowds continue to come. 
These very fault-finders have mourned over the 
fact that unconverted people, especially, cannot be 
induced to attend upon religious services. Our 
perplexing problem is how to secure space in our 
large church for the crowds of unconverted per¬ 
sons who beg to be admitted even after the church 
is filled to its utmost capacity. Notably, the large 
proportion of these people are men. Last Sabbath 
evening from three hundred to five hundred men 
stood outside the gate the entire evening, after 
being assured that there was no possibility of 
getting inside, held interested by the wonderful 
singing of the vast congregation, whose waves of 
melody swept out on their ears, and thrilled their 
hearts. Another noticeable feature in the vast 
crowds attendant upon these services is the ex¬ 
ceptionable seriousness and good order character¬ 
izing the general deportment. 

“ They are not an ignorant and excitable rabble, 
nor are they that class of persons whose training 
has been so lamentably defective that they seem 
to think a Methodist revival meeting an oppor¬ 
tune time and place for levity and conduct unbe- 


102 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


coming the house of God. On the contrary, they 
are thoughtful, intelligent, serious persons, deeply 
interested in the work of personal salvation. Many 
illustrations of the class of persons being reached 
might be given. I suggest one, as indicating the 
type of the work. Early in the meeting, a captain 
of a vessel trading with Philadelphia, from Maine, 
— a big, burly, honest tar, — was present at our 
evening service. The next day he started on his 
return trip down east; but so powerful was the 
impression made on his mind, that he says it was 
difficult for him to tear himself away from the meet¬ 
ing, to attend to his business engagements. As 
soon as he returned to the city he made his way to 
the church, came to the altar, a penitent seeker of 
religion, and was powerfully and happily converted. 
This illustrates the class of persons who have not 
been church-goers who are being saved. Many, 
too, of those who have been regular attendants 
upon the church service for years, are being led to 
come publicly and seek to experience the convert¬ 
ing grace of God. 

“ Numbers of persons who attended the wonder¬ 
ful revival in Central M. E. Church, twelve years 
ago, have said to me that they have seen nothing 
like that meeting since until they came to the 
services now being held here. Some evenings, 
the power of God so manifestly rests upon the 


REVIVAL AT WHARTON STREET. 


103 


congregation that the very atmosphere seems sur 
charged with the awful presence of Jehovah. Be¬ 
lievers rejoice, sinners are awakened, and penitents 
are saved — saved in the old Methodist way, the 
fire of the Holy Ghost going through their hearts, 
sweeping away the burden of guilt, and making 
them exultantly happy in the consciousness of the 
Divine favor. To God be all the glory ! The sig¬ 
nal blessing of God upon Brother Harrison’s labors 
at Wharton Street evidently indicates that he is in 
line with .the Divine will, and ought to suggest to 
brethren of other charges, to let him alone until 
the work here is accomplished. It is mavellous 
how he stands the continuous strain. The brethren 
of Wharton Street insist that he shall not hold ser¬ 
vices here on Saturday, but rest and recuperate. 
Brethren anxious about the work of God in their 
own charges, press him into service with them 
that day, often holding afternoon and evening 
meetings. Would it not be more religious to per¬ 
mit him to rest that day, and wait until he can be 
with them for a series of meetings? Others are 
persistently writing to him to leave Wharton Street, 
and come to help them. Would they have him 
give up the hold that God has given him upon the 
crowds that daily and nightly meet him here, and 
thus risk the loss of those so deeply interested 
already, merely because their own hearts yearn 


104 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


for the salvation of those in their own congrega¬ 
tion ? Nay, brethren, let him do his work here 
first, and then secure his services for your charge. 

“Theo. Stevens.” 

ALL-DAY MEETING AT WHARTON STREET M. E. CHURCH, 
PHILADELPHIA. 

“ At the commencement of our revival meeting, 
the initial service of which was held on September 
23, 1879, secretaries were designated to take the 
name and residence of each person professing to 
be converted. When, by actual count, the num¬ 
ber had reached one thousand , we deemed it ap¬ 
propriate to hold an all-day meeting, as a kind of 
jubilee, in which to render praise and thanksgiving 
to Almighty God for the wonderful outpouring of 
the Holy Spirit that, for more than five consec¬ 
utive months, had nightly crowded this large 
church, with an orderly, intelligent, and deeply 
interested congregation, resulting in the professed 
conversion of this exceptionally large number of 
persons. Accordingly, the 25th inst. was selected, 
and the needful arrangements made. Providence 
favored us with a beautiful day. The exercises 
commenced with a praise-service at six o’clock, a. m. 
To our grateful surprise some five hundred persons 
were present at this early hour, and the good 
Master favored us with a memorable season of 


ALL-DAY MEETING AT WHARTON ST. 105 

spiritual worship and unctious testimonies, mainly 
given by the young converts. Re-assembling for a 
continuance of the praise-service at half-past nine, 
a. M., by half-past ten, the hour designated for 
preaching, the church was packed, as many as 
could crowd in, standing, filling all the aisles, altar, 
and even pulpit, after all other sitting and standing 
room was occupied. At that hour our resident, 
highly esteemed Bishop, M. Simpson, preached to 
the converts. Any attempt to characterize the 
sermon must fail to set forth its beauty, tender¬ 
ness, pathos, practical instruction, fatherly counsel, 
and spiritual magnetism. For more than an hour 
the highly favored congregation hung upon the 
good Bishop’s eloquent lips, instructed, comforted, 
charmed, enthused, until, in the sublime perora¬ 
tion, spontaneous outbursts of Methodistic shouts 
came from all parts of the audience. At the con¬ 
clusion of this service a large proportion of the 
congregation repaired to the spacious lecture- 
room, where the thoughtful ladies of the church 
had prepared a substantial lunch. Over a thou¬ 
sand partook of the needful refreshments. Coming 
again at half-past one, P. M., in the auditorium, a 
love-feast was held. It was conducted by Rev. A. 
Atwood, the oldest of a number of ministers pres¬ 
ent from this city and vicinity. A hundred and 
fifty testimonies were given in the space of an 


106 


THE BOY PKEACHEK. 


hour and a quarter, conspicuous among which were 
those of Rev. T. T. Tasker and Samuel Work, both 
over eighty years old, and who have been mem¬ 
bers of the M. E. Church more than sixty years. 

11 Several ministers affirmed that they had never 
participated in such a mid-week Sabbath in Phila¬ 
delphia. At three o’clock, P. M., Rev. W. Swindells, 
a former pastor, and now presiding elder of North 
Philadelphia District, preached an appropriate, 
strong, helpful, eminently suggestive sermon. In¬ 
deed, both of the preachers of the day were sin¬ 
gularly happy in the selection of most fitting 
themes, and felicitous in their elaboration. The 
exercises of the day culminated in a marvellous 
revival service in the evening, conducted by the 
evangelist, Rev. Thomas Harrison. So densely 
packed was all the available space in the entire 
church that it seemed impossible to have altar- 
work, and yet, despite the apparently insuperable 
difficulties, about forty persons pressed their way 
through the crowd, as seekers of religion, and 
eighteen professed conversion. To God be all the 
glory for the wonderful day! Adverse criticism 
may be the expression of honest difference of 
judgment, but its animus often indicates, perhaps, 
unconscious bitterness, arising from prejudice and 
jealousy. In the use of legitimate means we be¬ 
lieve in the methods that win. 

Theodore Stevens, Pastor.” 


REVIVAL AT WHARTON STREET. 


107 


Rev. J. S. Inskip refers to this wonderful revival 
as follows, in The Christian Standard: 

“ Rev. Thomas Harrison, the youthful evangelist 
who is laboring with such marvellous success at the 
Wharton Street M. E. Church of this city, is to 
many a mysterious enigma. The facts in his case 
are such as cannot be ignored, nor can they be 
belittled. The results attendant upon his labors, 
as we view them, can only be explained by a 
recognition of the Divine element which they 
involve. There is nothing whatever about the 
appearance, character, history, or natural qualifica¬ 
tions of this youth, which can in any way account 
for his wonderful success. We call it wonderful, 
because it is so in a most emphatic sense. Up to 
this time nearly Jive hundred have been converted, 
as the fruit of his labors at Wharton Street. The 
articles published heretofore in our columns, writ¬ 
ten by the pastor, Rev. T. Stevens, abound in 
statements which show the wide-spread interest 
awakened in the public mind by this revival. In 
his communication, published in our last issue, he 
informs us that in six weeks over four hundred 
had professed conversion, and the names and resi¬ 
dences qf aM this great company of converts had 
been taken, and each and every one gave clear 
evidence of the genuineness of the work. The 
crowds continue to come, with unabated interest 


108 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


About five hundred men, in one instance, stood at 
the gate, and in the street, unable to gain admis¬ 
sion to the church. 

11 Now it must be remembered that there had been 
no preparations in the way of training a multitude 
of singers, and no public notice had been given to 
the people, to excite any special interest in the 
young man or his work. True he had been spoken 
of in the way of severe criticism, and gross mis¬ 
representation as to his teaching and methods. 
His successes elsewhere had been known, and his 
services had been most earnestly sought in many 
of the leading churches of the country. 

u The question may well be asked, Why and 
wherefore does he succeed? Certainly no one will 
attribute it to his personal appearance, voice, or 
intellectual force of character. We hope not to be 
misunderstood as saying, that in * bodily presence 1 
he is in no sense impressive. Small of stature, 
and with a somewhat eccentric bearing, there is 
nothing about his general appearance which in any 
way solves the problem of his remarkable success. 
Nor is there any solution of this in his power of 
utterance. There is nothing defective or disagree¬ 
able, it is true, in his manner of address. Nor is 
there anything unusually impressive. He seldom 
even attempts to preach. His brief and earnest 
appeals to the people, however, are very unctu- 


REVIVAL AT WHARTON STREET. 109 

ous, and seem to be the out-gush of his innermost 
soul.” 

It is impossible to tell the wonderful power ol 
this great and extended series of meetings. The 
power of God spread on every side, till all that 
end of the city felt it. God was in the lead 
throughout the whole movement, and men stood 
amazed. Ministers wondered, and hardly knew 
what to say. Some were disposed to find fault; 
and I know one minister — and a good man he is— 
who gave way to criticism, and a wrong spirit; but 
when he found how God was working, he said to 
another minister: 

I am sorry I ever found fault with Mr. Harrison, 
for I believe that God is with him.” 

So the battle raged, and the victories were 
won, among ministers and people. “ Bless the 
Lord, 0 my soul, and all that is within me bless 
His holy name.” Amen. 


no 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


CHAPTER IX. 

WONDERFUL REVIVAL IN DR. TALMAGE’S TABERNACLE, 
BROOKLYN. 

Many of Mr. Harrison’s friends wondered how 
he would succeed when he went among the Pres¬ 
byterians, and stood before Dr. Talmage’s great 
congregation; and when he began they listened to 
hear the report. But God was with him , and gave 
him the hearts of the people the very first night, 
as he talked to them about faith; and about one 
hundred rose for prayers that selfsame night. 
The revival fire kindled on every side, till it be¬ 
came a mighty flame : hundreds began to inquire* 
after God, and to find his pardoning mercy. 

I find the following account in the Christian 
Herald , of New York : — 

“ REY. THOMAS HARRISON, THE BOY PREACHER. 

“ The inquiry was addressed, recently, to one who 
had attended a meeting at the Brooklyn Tabernacle, 
conducted by Mr. Harrison , 1 What is this excite 


REVIVAL IN BROOKLYN. 


Ill 


ment going on ?’ 1 What is the secret of that 

young man’s power over the people ? ’ The 
answer was uttered reverently, and with sincerity. 
‘ This is that which was spoken by the prophet 
Joel: and it shall come to pass in the last days, 
saith God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all 
flesh. . . . And whosoever shall call on the name 
of the Lord shall be saved.’ 

u It is remarkable that although many attempts 
have been made to explain the movement which 
has accompanied Mr. Harrison wherever he has 
gone, the only sufficient explanation has been of 
the same character. There is no way of account¬ 
ing for the results except the one, which, though 
the most simple, is the one we are most prone, 
in these days of cold reasoning, to overlook, that 
the Spirit of God moves with his quickening 
power on the people. 1 It is not by might nor by 
power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.* 

11 A THRILLING SCENE. 

11 It is impossible to conceive of a sight more 
thrilling, more solemn, than that which might have 
been witnessed in the Tabernacle any night during 
the past .seven weeks. It affected men who have 
for many years led Christian lives, equally with 
men who were strangers to God. The meetings 
seemed to be a veritable Bethel, and men say, 


112 THE BOY PREACHER. 

1 Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it 
not.’ From one side of the large area to the 
other stretches a sea of faces, and each one is 
marked . by the same emotion, that of intense 
earnestness and enthusiasm, while in not a few 
cases the eyes are filled with tears, — here tears of 
heartfelt sorrow, there tears of joy. Parents weep¬ 
ing with gladness that the prayers of their lives 
are being answered in the conversion of their chil¬ 
dren ; sinners weeping, as they see for the first 
time how loving and patient a being is the God 
against whom they have rebelled. 

“ Following the direction of the concentrated gaze 
of the congregation, what do we see ? Who is it 
that has been endued with power from on high so 
to move the thousands of people gathered there ? 
Moving to and fro across the platform, with a 
quick, nervous step, is a slight, pale young man, in 
appearance a mere boy; but little over five feet 
in height, with not a particle of beard or whisker, 
his short light hair brushed straight up from a 
high intellectual forehead, and with pi.ercing eyes, 
of remarkable brightness. Every gesture, every 
movement, is the expression of a highly nervous 
temperament, in which the physical seems to be 
tost in the spiritual and mental. 

“ The sermon is usually very short, and is for the 
most part directed to one point. With all the 


revival in Brooklyn. 


113 


vigor Mr. Harrison possesses he attacks the citadel 
of the will. He is profoundly impressed with the 
conviction that the great stumbling-block by which 
men are kept from Christ is the same as it was in 
the days of the Master, who exclaimed, 1 Ye will 
not come unto me, that ye might have life.’ Mr. 
Harrison assumes that his hearers know how they 
may be saved, and also that they need salvation; 
therefore he confines his utterances on those points 
to a few striking illustrations, which set them 
vividly before the mind. 

11 Then he applies himself to what he considers 
the main difficulty, and words of warning, of 
entreaty, of encouragement, fall in a torrent from 
his lips. But the signs following — strong men 
dissolved in tears, children solemnly giving them¬ 
selves to God, hardened sinners flinging them¬ 
selves on their knees, entreating mercy — do not 
seem to be the effects of his appeal, as the word 
effects is usually understood. These signs are 
rather the result of an unseen but perceptible 
influence, a mighty wave , which rolls in irresistible 
power over the assemblage, swaying all hearts, and 
carrying men into the ocean of God’s love. The 
greatest . of all miracles, far surpassing those 
worked on material and visible objects, — a moral, 
spiritual miracle, in which the heart of stone is 
turned into the heart of flesh, — is worked by 
8 


114 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


Almighty power, and we stand still, in awe, for¬ 
getting the instrument employed, and say 1 Thou 
didst it.’ 

“ The revival at Dr. Talmage’s Tabernacle, to 
which we have previously alluded, has been unpre¬ 
cedented in the history of the church. Night after 
night, for seven weeks, that large edifice has been 
crowded with eager listeners, and Dr. Talmage be¬ 
lieves that not less than a thousand conversions 
have been the fruit of the movement. Many of 
these have been of persons belonging to other cities, 
and some have united with churches in New York, 
with which they have family connections. Over 
five hundred have already sought and received ad¬ 
mission to the church at the Tabernacle. 

u On Sunday, June 6th, four hundred and six¬ 
teen members were received on profession of faith, 
as the first-fruits of the services. Dr. Talmage, on 
looking over the throng, was overcome by emotion. 
He said, ‘ This is a stupendous scene, — a scene, 
which, if equalled, has never been surpassed, in any 
church, since the day of Pentecost.’ The period 
during which the daily services were to be held 
had terminated ; but Dr. Talmage said, 1 How can 
we close? This work of grace has been going on 
for six weeks, and constantly deepening and widen¬ 
ing. On Friday evening last the Tabernacle could 
not seat all who came. I put the question to this 


REVIVAL IN BROOKLYN. 


115 


congregation, not to church-members alone, but to 
men of the world as well, whether in this outpour¬ 
ing it is best to stop now ? What shall we do? 1 
cannot take the responsibility. I ask all those 
whose common sense tells them it is better to go 
on for two or three evenings to arise in their seats. 
All the Jive thousand arose . Dr. Talmage then an¬ 
nounced the continuance of the meetings, and said, 
1 1 wish, as a part of my service, to express my 
heartfelt, unqualified approval of the way Brother 
Harrison works; his services eclipse the ways of 
all other evangelists I have ever seen/ 

“A REMARKABLE CONVERSION. 
u At a subsequent meeting, when the writer was 
present, a middle-aged gentleman, a prominent 
business man in the city, rose in the area of the 
church, and made his way through the crowd 
toward the platform. Even before he reached the 
seat where anxious persons were sitting, his emo¬ 
tion overcame him, and, falling on his knees in the 
aisle, his frame shaking with sobs, and, in a voice 
broken by tears, he cried for mercy. 1 My mother 
has been praying for me many years,’ he said; and 
before he left the meeting he had the assurance in 
his soul that her prayers were answered. Many 
other instances have occurred in which persons whc 
have attended a gospel ministry for many years 


ii6 


THE BOV tBEA^HEIfc. 


without deciding for Christ, have been moved to 
come to him, and give him their hearts without 
delay. 


“SOMETHING TO LEAN ON. 

u An old gentleman rose for prayers one night 
during Mr. Harrison’s service at the Brooklyn 
Tabernacle. He was accompanied by his two 
daughters, who had been converted during the 
services, and who had with difficulty persuaded 
their father to attend just once. To the intense 
joy of his children he listened attentively, and, 
when those desiring prayer were asked to stand 
up, he arose. In conversing with him at the after¬ 
meeting he said he was seventy-five years of age f 
and had led 1 a fair sort of life,’ and had 1 not been 
a very bad man; ’ he was old now, and, as he 
quaintly expressed it, i wanted something to lean 
on By the blessing of God he was brought to 
see that his boasted righteousness counted for 
nothing, and he learned that in Jesus he had a 
support on which he might lean in time and in 
eternity. His day of indifference was over, and in 
the eventide of his life he has light. 

“ When it is remembered that Mr. Harrison is 
not j T et twenty-six years of age, such a record as 
that we have briefly summarized, will be seen to 
be of a most remarkable, if not wholly unprece- 


REVIVAL IN BROOKLYN. 


117 


dented character. With humility, he owns that 
the success which has attended his labors is not 
due to any ability he possesses in himself, nor is it 
the result of any oratorical power of which he is 
master. It is simply and solely the work of the 
Holy Spirit, which God has vouchsafed to bestow 
in answer to earnest prayer; and on this divine 
power the young evangelist relies, in a spirit of 
simple dependence, for a continued blessing in his 
future efforts.” 

Notwithstanding the appearance of repetition 
I know the reader will take great delight in read¬ 
ing the following, which I found in one of the 
Brooklyn papers: 

* A DAY OF REJOICING AT REV. DR. TALMAGE’S 
TABERNACLE. 

‘ The practical Result of the Revival conducted by Rev. Mr. 
Harrison — Four Hundred and Sixteen New Members Re¬ 
ceived — One Hundred and Twenty Sprinkled — Impressive 
Remarks by Rev. Dr. Talmage. 

11 A great jubilee meeting, following a series of 
revival meetings held during the past six weeks, 
took place yesterday morning at the Tabernacle. 
The audience present was simply immense, and 
crowded the vast audience-room to repletion. 
Many persons, unable to obtain seats, remained 
standing throughout the services. Seated on the 


118 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


platform with Rev. Dr. Talmage were Revs. Drake, 
Gilbert, Evans, Hustings, Alfred Taylor, Thomas 
Harrison, Gray, See, Davidson, and ‘Father’ Pier¬ 
son. While the congregation were assembling Mr. 
Morgan played a voluntary on the great organ. 

“ The services were opened with an anthem by 
the boy choir, Mr. Redfield accompanying on the 
organ. The congregation then sang * The Long 
Metre Doxology,’ Mr. Peter Ali leading with the 
cornet. Dr. Talmage recited the Lord’s Prayer, 
and read a portion of the second chapter of Acts. 
In his invocation the pastor made a beautiful allu¬ 
sion to Pentecostal days, and prayed that he who 
received the Presidential nomination might be one 
who loved God, and would bring a blessing to the 
nation. 

“ Further on in the services the pastor read a 
list of four hundred and sixteen persons who had 
applied for membership, fully three-fourths upon 
profession of faith. He varied the reading with 
touching allusions. In the list were the names of 
members of his own household, and he remarked: 
1 A work of grace comes very near when it enters 
one’s own family. These are three of my children. 
Rejoice with me, brethren.’ Further on he said, 
‘There are whole families on the list to-day — 
father, mother, and children.’ Again, ‘ How these 
names ought to rejoice those who have been work- 


REVIVAL IN BROOKLYN 


119 


mg here, night and day, for six weeks — yea, for 
ten years. This is an answer to their prayers, a 
culmination of their work.’ Five sailors were on 
the list, and touching two of them Dr. Talmage 
exclaimed, 1 A note on the margin says Sailors. 
Oh, I remember them. They came into port just 
to have their souls saved.’ After a name he read 
the words, 1 The prodigal come home,’ and said, 
1 Such he announced himself to a vast assemblage, 
and I have never witnessed a greater change in a 
man.’ In a subdued voice the speaker read after 
the name of a lady the marginal note, ‘ deceased,’ 
saying: 1 For since she joined the church militant 
she joined the church triumphant, and before she 
died Brother Evans administered to her the sacra¬ 
ment.’ Dr. Talmage referred to one convert as 
being eighty-two years of age. * 

u Dr. Talmage further said : 1 1 am in a great 
perplexity. For six weeks this work has been 
going on, deepening and widening. I gave notice 
last Friday evening that that week would end the 
special series of meetings conducted by Mr. Harri¬ 
son. But how is this work to close ? Here’s a 
question I think I can leave to the congregation 
— whether, under this tremendous inflow of the 
Spirit, this great ingathering of souls, we ought to 
stop now ? I thought I would just put it to this 
congregation whether we had better go on. Mr. 


120 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


Harrison got all ready to leave to-morrow night. 
Yet here we are — what are we going to do ? I 
am going to roll this great responsibility on the 
audience. I want an expression of public senti¬ 
ment. I am going to ask all those who think the 
work ought to go on two or three nights longer,— 
now be deliberate, — all those who think we ought 
to go on, to rise up. [The vast audience arose.] 
Oh, yes, it must go on, and Mr. Harrison is ready 
to stay, though he has other engagements. I wish, 
as a part of my service, to express my heartfelt, 
unqualified approval of the way Mr. Harrison 
works. His services eclipse the ways of all other 
evangelists I have ever seen. I have a private 
anticipation that this week will see more of the 
salvation of God than you have seen in the six 
weeks.’ The l«ng metre doxology was then sung. 

“ Dr. Talmage preached from the text, Exodus 
xii., 14: 1 This day shall be unto you for a memo- 
rial.’ 1 The word Passover/ he said , 1 is a very sig¬ 
nificant word. It describes when the Angel of 
Death, by one stroke of his wing, left one dead in 
every household. But where the door-post was 
sprinkled with the blood of a lamb the angel 
passed over. And so to-day we celebrate a great 
passover. This day shall be a memorial to you. 
0 Lord ! let the cloud of thy mercy burst to-day, 
that our sins may be overwhelmed, and our souls 


REVIVAL IN BROOKLYN. 


121 


saved. This day shall be forever and forever a 
memorial. There are three or four things that 
make this occasion one of all-absorbing interest. 
In the first place, this is the rehearsal of a death- 
scene. When we die we die for ourselves, and 
amid all kindnesses, and bathings of the head, and 
of the hands, and of the feet — some one to give 
us a last kiss. Not so Christ. He died amid 
enemies. He must suffer, He must die — the kind 
for the cruel, the good for the evil, the divine for 
the human 1 But this is, further, an absorbing 
occasion because it is a reunion. Oh, how many 
reunions of families to-day! A little while ago 
husband and wife were divided by religious views, 
but to-day they are one; one for life, one for eter¬ 
nity. It does not seem to me like a church to-day 
— but one great family, one faith, one baptism, one 
Heaven. Church militant! Church triumphant! 
Ye ministers of religion, from all denominations of 
Christian activity, it is a reunion of our souls. 

“ 1 1 give you welcome to-day. Another thought 
makes this a very impressive scene, and that is, it 
arouses so many precious memories. You remem¬ 
ber how more tender your father was on sacra¬ 
mental days ; how your mother stood by your side, 
saying not a word, but with eyes filled with tears. 
Dear old souls, they are gone now, u Blessed are 
the saints beloved of God.” 


122 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


4< 1 There is another thought, giving great tender¬ 
ness to this scene, and that is, it is a confessional. 
There was a time when, if any one had stated that 
there were imperfections in our character, we 
would have resented it, and would have asked, 
u Do you doubt our honor ? ” But Christians forget 
to be sensitive. Once more, I remark that this 
scene is especially tender and impressive because 
it is anticipative. We are not to stay here much 
longer. The church here is only anticipative of 
the heavenly. God is not going to let His chil¬ 
dren lie in the dust; the grave is no place to stay 
in. We must rise, we must rise. Behold, He com- 
eth ! God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes, 
and there shall be no more sighing. To-day we 
enter upon a scene rarely before witnessed in any 
church since the day of Pentecost 1 ’ 

u Mr. Talmage here asked the officers to marshal 
in the aisles all who had united with the church 
that day. While the officers were complying, the 
congregation sang — 

‘Blest be the tie that binds.’ 

u Dr. Talmage read the questions constituting 
the form of admission, and receiving assent from 
the converts, welcomed them to the church, and, 
accompanied by Rev. Mr. Harrison and Father Pier¬ 
son, gave them the right hand of fellowship. The 
ceremony was rendered especially impressive 


REVIVAL IN BROOKLYN. 


123 


by the congregation singing, 1 Bringing in the 
Sheaves/ and 1 Ricg the Bells of Heaven.’ Then, 
one hundred and twenty of the converts were bap¬ 
tized. 

“ The services were followed by the administer¬ 
ing of the sacrament.” 

This most glorious revival rolled on, in great 
power and majesty, till, in one harvest day, two 
hundred and forty more were added to this pros¬ 
perous church. The following account of it I 
found in a secular paper. 

“ TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY PERSONS RECEIVED INTO 
COMMUNION YESTERDAY. — REV. DR. TALMAGE’S 
SERMON. 

11 At the Brooklyn Tabernacle, yesterday morn¬ 
ing, Rev. Dr. Talmage received two huudred and 
forty new members into the church, making the 
remarkable total of six hundred and fifty-six for 
the present month. The event drew together a 
large congregation, and, notwithstanding the pres¬ 
ence of midsummer weather, very few sittings 
were unoccupied. The platform was beautifully 
decorated' for the occasion with flowers. On the 
left of the pastor’s chair stood a superb cross of 
lilies, carnations, and smilax. On the left, resting 
on a stand, was a basket of rare blossoms, and on 
either end of the platform was a stand of flowers, 


( 


124 


THE BOY PKEACHER. 


with plants in pots arranged about the base. 
Seated on the platform with Rev. Dr. Talmage 
were three gentlemen, one of them being Rev. 
Mr. Harrison, the evangelist. Messrs. Morgan and 
Redfield presided at the organ, as usual, and Mr. 
Peter Ali led the singing with the cornet, the boy 
choir assisting. 

u In his announcements, Dr. Talmage read a cir¬ 
cular, addressed to the new converts, calling upon 
them to enter upon careers of Christian usefulness 
b}^ joining some one of the numerous organizations 
connected with the Tabernacle. ‘ This evening,’ 
he said , 1 the new members would meet to complete 
an organization begun on Saturday.’ On the same 
occasion, also, he said, he would baptize by immer¬ 
sion. 

u The names of the new converts were read, 
after a beautiful solo by Mr. Ali. The list was a 
long one, and the monotony of the reading was 
occasionally relieved by the pastor with interesting 
comments. The total membership of the Taber¬ 
nacle, he said, was two thousand two hundred and 
eighty-six. 

il While the congregation were singing, — 

‘ Blest be the tie, that binds,’ 

the new converts assembled, in single file, in the 
aisles. On the conclusion of the singing, Rev. Dr. 
Talmage and Rev. Mr. Harrison passed along the 


REVIVAL IN BROOKLYN. 


126 


lines, and shook each convert by the hand. Dr. 
Talmage had a word of encouragement and bene¬ 
diction for each person. During the ceremony, the 
congregation sang verses of Moody and Sankey 
hymns, under the lead of a gentleman standing 
near the organ. 

“ Rev. Dr. Talmage then preached his sermon, 
taking as his text, 1 Peter ii. 7 : ‘ Unto you, there¬ 
fore, which believe, He is precious. 7 Said he: 
‘For six or seven years we had very hard times 
in this country. What was the matter with the 
storehouse, the manufactory, the harvest ? There 
was nothing the matter with them; it was deeper. 
There was no faith, and hence no national pros¬ 
perity. I have to tell yon, that what ruins the 
commercial world, ruins the spiritual world — lack 
of faith. To you who have faith, to you who be¬ 
lieve, He is precious. In the first place, Christ is 
precious as a saviour from sin. Oh, what a grand 
thing it is to think that all the bad words we have 
ever said, all the bad deeds we have ever done, all 
the bad thoughts we have ever had, are obliterated 
by the blood of Jesus Christ. There are hundreds 
who can now for the first time say : u Lord Jesus, 
Thou art' precious — my life, my all.” But Jesus 
is also precious as a friend. THe Lord Jesus Christ 
is, after all, the best home friend. Blessed is that 
cradle over which He bends; blessed is the nur- 


126 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


Bery through which He walks; blessed is the table 
at which Jesus breaks the bread; blessed is the 
grave at which Jesus stands, saying: u I am the 
resurrection and the life.” Christ has never for¬ 
saken you. 

“ 1 But I remark again, that Christ is precious as 
a final deliverer. It will not be long before all 
in this assemblage have gone. The fact is, we 
cannot escape death. Oh, be of hope ! John in 
the vision saw that the rider on the white horse 
had the better of the rider on the pale horse. The 
dampness of the sepulchre is only the spray dashed 
-jff from seas of everlasting glory.’ 

u Speaking of the great ingathering of souls into 
the Tabernacle within the past few weeks, Dr. Tal- 
mage said that they represented different nation¬ 
alities and denominations; that some came from 
distant States, and that some were that day in 
England. Continued he: * Behold the Lamb of 
God, that taketh away the sin of the world.’ Let 
us all gather around the cross to-day, not to inflict 
wounds upon our Saviour, but to give in our alle¬ 
giance to him. 

“ After a hymn had been sung, fifty persons pre¬ 
sented themselves for baptism. The services con¬ 
cluded with the administering of the sacrament.” 


REVIVAL IN BROOKLYN. 


127 


REMARKS. 

1. This mighty revival in this large city took place 
in the months of May and June, 1880. Sometimes 
the thermometer was up as high as eighty degrees, 
and the long days made the evenings so short that 
many thought they could not hold revival meetings 
at that time of the year. 

2. This was the first time Mr. Harrison had held 
meetings of any magnitude in churches of other 
lenominations. 

3. His methods of working are peculiarly his 
own, and were new to those vast congregations. 

4. Yet so great was the power of God among 
the people that nothing could thwart the grandeur 
of this mighty religious awakening. The power of 
the Holy Ghost was among the people; and the 
aged and the young, the rich and the poor, were 
led to exchange misery for happiness, sin for holi¬ 
ness; yea, hell for heaven. Hundreds of families 
were greatly benefited by this revival, and thou¬ 
sands of persons were inspired by the wonderful 
power that was manifested in all these services. 
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the 
Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now 
and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. 

5. This gracious triumph of gospel grace is the 
strongest argument against the scoffs and sneers 
of infidels of the Ingersoll stripe. Mockers of God 


128 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


and of Christianity are struck dumb in the pres¬ 
ence of such sudden and wonderful transformations 
of person and character, — a power that will take 
a wicked man, with all the bent of his being going 
hellward, with all his passions and proclivities set 
against the laws of his God, with his evil habits 
binding him down as with hooks of steel, his'past 
life a record of transgression. When such a man 
is smitten down by the power of the Holy Ghost, 
and all his sins brought up before him, and he feels 
that he is sinking into hell, — when such a man is 
suddenly transformed into the image of God, and 
all his past sins pardoned, and he is adopted into 
the family of the Lord Almighty, having the Spirit 
itself bearing witness with his spirit that he is a 
child of God, with all his evil habits broken off, and 
all his tendencies turned God-ward, and he walks 
the earth while his treasure and his heart are in 
heaven, and he can sing: 

“ Yonder*s my house, and portion fair: 

My treasure and my heart are there, 

And my abiding home; 

For me the elder brethren stay, 

And angels beckon me away, 

And Jesus bids me come,” 

then hell may turn pale, and heaven may have 
a jubilee, the slaves of Satan may well tremble, 
and the saints of God rejoice. And when these 


REMARKS. 


129 


transformations are multiplied by the hundred, in 
one church, in a few short weeks, then, indeed, is 
the gospel demonstrated to be “ the power of God 
and the wisdom of God.” 

Stand back, you God defiers ! be in awe be¬ 
fore his majesty ! Take words and return to your 
offended Father, and let your tongue cleave to the 
roof of your mouth before you utter a word against 
God, or against any of his servants. 

We want these miracles of spiritual healing mul¬ 
tiplied by the thousand, and by the million, all over 
this redeemed world; and this will do more to silence 
the sceptic than all the eloquent sermons that are 
preached to show the folly of scepticism. Every¬ 
body knows it is folly. God has declared the man 
a fool who says there is no God, and who is so 
absorbed in this world as to forget his relation to 
the next. 11 The fool hath said in his heart there 
is no God; ” and God has said to many of them, 
“ Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required 
of thee.” 


9 


130 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


CHAPTER X. 

REVIVAL IN SCOTT M. E. CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. 

The following account is by the pastor, in jZion’s 
Herald: 

u Rev. Thomas Harrison, the young Evangelist, 
commenced a series of revival services in Scott 
M. E. Church, on Thursday evening, October 7. 
These services have been attended by crowds of 
people, and on Sabbath evenings the church has 
been literally packed. Crowds have gone away, 
unable to find even standing room, while the pave¬ 
ments have been occupied by numbers, who re¬ 
mained during the whole service, attracted and 
held by the strains of Christian song. The evan¬ 
gelist could scarcely have selected a time seem¬ 
ingly more unfavorable. Political excitement in 
this district runs high. An immense wigwam has 
been erected by the Republicans within a square 
and a half of the church. Political meetings and 
torchlight processions have been the order of the 
day, or rather of the night. The tramp of clubs, 


REVIVAL IN PHILADELPHIA. l31 

and the music of brass bands, accompanied by fife 
and drum, have been our most constant surround¬ 
ings. Not unfrequently, during the meetings, we 
have been compelled to drown the tumult of pass¬ 
ing processions and noise of brass bands with the 
songs of Zion, and the people have been able to do 
it. Just let a throng of Christian workers, thor¬ 
oughly in earnest, start on such a line, and the 
singing will be simply wonderful. 

“ Amidst these unfavorable surroundings, the 
work of God is going on. Our altars have been 
filled with penitents. Some eighty have been con¬ 
verted, and still the work goes on. 

“ Brother Harrison is not only abundant in labors, 
but his influence and power over masses of people 
is really amazing. People sometimes say he can’t 
preach, or even exhort; but could they have heard 
him these three Sabbath evenings, and several 
times through the week-night services, they would 
have been compelled to say that they had 1 missed 
their reckoning.’ Numbers who stood by him 
through the great 1 awakening ’ at Wharton Street 
say, that in this line he has exceeded anything they 
ever heard from him there. 

u Let people estimate him as they will, there is a 
remarkable power attending his ministrations that 
cannot be gainsayed. God is with him. His hold 
upon the young people is marvellous. ’Tis an 


132 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


interesting picture to see him at the close of ser* 
vices the centre of a throng of young folks. Though 
beyond the days of boyhood, yet he seems as much 
a boy as any composing the throng. But his power 
is not confined to the young; even aged men and 
women yield to his persuasions, and tremble under 
his warnings, and escape to Christ as a refuge. 
It is simply impossible for me to draw a pen-picture 
of the stirring scenes of this meeting. The after¬ 
noon service, which he held at the wigwam, was 
attended by more than three thousand people. 
Men are coming to the services who are known not 
to have been inside of a church for years. 

u While I could have wished the meeting when 
the political excitement has died away, yet it may 
be the very best thing after all. Doubtless many 
have been held who during these weeks may have 
forgotten their vows, and it is blessed to know that 
so many have been plucked from the ‘ burning.’ 
Rev. E. Davies, Evangelist, preached on last Sab¬ 
bath morning, with power and unction, on the 
‘ Gift of the Holy Ghost/ following with a prayer 
service, which was a grand preparation for Brother 
Harrison’s labors at night. God be praised, we are 
having good times. William M. Ridgway.” 

It was my exalted privilege to attend the above 
meetings, and preach there about this time. And 


REVIVAL IN PHILADELPHIA. 


133 


it was while attending these meetings that 1 be* 
came convinced that the time had come when 
somebody ought to gather up, and put upon perma¬ 
nent record, the life and labors of this worthy young 
man. I confess that I was deeply convicted on this 
point, That such mighty and extensive revivals, 
that had so suddenly followed each other,— number¬ 
ing some fifteen thousand souls in four short years, 
by a youth who had no reputation, and was un¬ 
known to the world till the fall of 1876, — that such 
wonders of grace ought to be put upon record, and 
proclaimed to the world. 

I was so impressed with this, that I said to him 
one day, in his room, in the Colonnade Hotel, Phila¬ 
delphia, 11 You ought to keep a record of your labors, 
and preserve the facts of the revivals, and the inci¬ 
dents that are constantly occurring.” 

“ I have no time to do it,” he said. “ Why don’t 
you do it, you are so much used to writing.” 

This was all that was said at that time, and I had 
no thought, then, of writing this volume. But 
after attending these meetings for a few days I 
became so deeply interested in this devoted man, 
and his mighty work for God, that I could not lay 
it aside. It followed me to my home. I sat down 
and began to write about Evangelists in the 
Churches , and then upon the secrets of this man's 
success, and then to cull articles out of the papers 
and periodicals concerning him, till I found myself 


1.34 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


preparing a manuscript for the press before I 
hardly knew it. When Mr. Harrison found that 
God had laid it upon my heart to write this book, 
and that I had already begun, he suggested that 
I had better go to Baltimore, and inquire of the 
pastors, and search the papers. I did so, and found 
it necessary to go to Washington, and other cities, 
at Mr. Harrison’s suggestion. 

As I have travelled from city to city to learn 
about this dear brother, and of the results of his 
labors, I have found a great desire in many hearts 
to see this book in print. Those who have seen 
him, want to know more of his labors in other 
places. Those who have not seen or heard him, 
want to read the full account of God’s wonderful 
work. So I have met with great encouragement 
and help from the pastors and from the people. 

The revival at Scott M. E. Church went on, with 
increasing power, all through and after the political 
campaign ; converts multiplied from time to time, 
until about three hundred found peace with God. 

I was there the last two days of those meetings. 
They were, indeed, days of mighty power. Many 
of the ministers and people of this city of brotherly 
love were present to hear the following sermons by 
that prince of preachers, Rev. T. De Witt Talmage. 
There are so many excellent things in these ser¬ 
mons, that I give them as quoted in the daily 
papers. 


DR. TALMAGE AT THE SCOTT CHURCH, PA. 135 


SERMON BY DR. TALMAGE AT THE SCOTT CHURCH. 

The Statutes of the Lord are Right — The Bible in the Counting- 

house — At the Death-bed — In the Family and School — Evi¬ 
dences of its Authenticity. 

From the text, “ The statutes of the Lord are 
right/’ Psalm xix. • 8, Dr. T. De Witt Talmage 
preached yesterday at the Scott Methodist Epis¬ 
copal Church, where Mr. Harrison, the evangelist, 
has for some time been conducting a revival, a 
powerful sermon on the excellence of Scripture. 

He pointed out how the philosophy of all unin¬ 
spired writings that commanded the respect of 
mankind might be traced ultimately to Bible prin¬ 
ciples. Carlyle was but a fine distortion of Ezekiel. 
The Bible was terse, yet various ; it presented 
endless variety, but no contradictions. Written by 
one man, it would have been a monotone. As it 
was, its harmony was perfect, the four parts that 
constituted musical harmony being found in Rev¬ 
elation. This was because the Bible was intended 
to be read by people of all nations and ages. There 
was something in it for every one. God knew that 
children \yould want to read the Bible, and, there¬ 
fore, we have the description of the Divine Infant 
sleeping in the manger, and of the obedience of 
Christ in youth to his parents. God knew that the 
aged would want to read the Bible, and, therefore, 


136 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


we have the profound wisdom of the Proverbs. For 
the historian and the jurist, Moses was permitted 
to write the Pentateuch. For the poet, Isaiah was 
inspired to describe the heavens unfolding as cur¬ 
tains to reveal the glory of the Lord ; and Ezekiel, 
to show the five oceans upheld by the finger of 
God, as the leaf upholds the rain-drop; and David 
to picture the ranks and tiers of life rising one 
above the other till the highest is filled by angels, 
to call upon them to praise God, and to be an¬ 
swered by them in magnificent acclaim, u Praise 
ye the Lord.” God knew that lovers of the wild 
and strange would read the Bible, and, therefore, 
he inspired the mysterious visions of Ezekiel, the 
mighty wheels, the living creatures strangely or¬ 
ganized, the moving and ineffable glory, the throne 
between the cherubim, and the likeness of one that 
sat thereon. To the Arab on his dromedary the 
book was precious, and to the Swiss girl in her 
Alpine solitudes ; and, seeing that it was perfectly 
adapted to be read everywhere, always, and by all t 
we cannot but exclaim, with absolute conviction, 
“ The statutes of the Lord are right.” 

The Bible is right in doctrine. There are but 
two doctrines. One is, man a sinner; the other, 
Christ a Saviour. Man must come down; Christ 
must go up. In the Bible Christ stands as in an 
amphitheatre. Behind him are the prophets; be- 


DR. TALMAGE AT THE SCOTT CHURCH, PA. 137 

fore him, like footlights illuminating his counte¬ 
nance, are the evangelists and the apostles, and 
all earth and heaven are the applauding specta¬ 
tors. I can give you a sentence in which every 
word weighs a ton : 

“ God so loved the world that he gave his only 
begotten Son, that all that believe in him should 
not perish, but should have everlasting life. ,, 

No wonder that when Christ was born in Beth¬ 
lehem there was such joy in heaven that it over¬ 
flowed the battlements, and was beheld by the 
shepherds in the fields. Oh that glorious story of 
redemption ! I heard, the other day, of a little 
girl in the West, that used to wave her handker¬ 
chief to the engineer of a certain railroad train 
every time he passed her home. That went on 
till it became one of the pleasant things of every 
day to that engineer to watch for the little one, 
and to reply to her friendly signal. One night the 
train was belated. When it reached that part of 
the track which ran by the child’s dwelling the 
darkness had already set in ; but the engineer, 
looking out, saw by the head-light that the little 
creature, ynconscious of her peril, had come close 
up to the very track, and was waiting there to 
greet him. Instantly he reversed the engine, and 
signalled “ down brakes ; ” but, though the train 
was really stopping, to him it seemed that it only 


138 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


went faster than before. Then he climbed down to 
the cowcatcher, and just as the locomotive almost 
touched the child he caught her up in his arms, 
and fell back against his engine, holding her to his 
heart — saved. The train stopped ; the brakemen 
sprang down from their places; the passengers got 
out, and came crowding forward to ask what was 
the matter. And there they found those two — the 
child safe, the engineer in a dead faint. Christ did 
all that for us. He saw destruction rushing upon 
us, and he pressed forward and stooped to take us 
in his mighty arms, and hold us to his loving heart 
— saved. Christ did more, far more than that, for 
he died that we might live. Oh the height, the 
depth, the grandeur of redemption ! 

Again, the Bible is right in its effects. Every¬ 
where it is appropriate. I have seen it in count¬ 
ing-houses in Philadelphia when I lived here, and 
I lived here a good while. Seven years I was a 
resident of your city, and a warm-hearted, comfort¬ 
able time I had of it. My home was here, and my 
dead are sleeping here. The name Philadelphia 
means a great deal to me. It was here that 1 used 
to see that Bible in a counting-house, an office in 
the navy yard. Old Father Grice — he was in pub¬ 
lic employ — told me that he used to read a chap¬ 
ter in that book every day before he began busi¬ 
ness. While he was reading his office door was 


DR. TALMAGE AT THE SCOTT CHURCH, PA. 139 

always kept shut. When he had finished his chap¬ 
ter he used to open the door to begin business. 

No place is inappropriate for the Bible. We 
have many good and beautiful books now, the 
work of such Christians as Doddridge and Bax¬ 
ter ; but of all good books, this is the best. Let 
the sinner open it ; at the Commandments he 
reads that indictment of ten counts, and he says 
“ Guilty.” Then he tries to take refuge in the 
covenant of works. Paul chases him out of that 
hiding-place. Salvation is not of works, lest any 
should boast. Ye are not justified by works ; but 
then, just as he is almost despairing under convic¬ 
tion, he hears from heaven a gracious voice, “ Come 
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and 
I will give you rest,” 

The Bible thus replies to the anxious soul. It 
is equally appropriate for the troubled soul. The 
bereaved mother mourns her babe as dead. The 
Bible tells her, No ; the Heavenly Shepherd has 
only come and gathered in one of his lambs out of 
the cold. Christ comes in; Death goes out. Jesus 
has lifted away from a bleak and weary world the 
little one tenderly in his arms, saying ,“ Suffer the 
little children to come unto me, and forbid them 
not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” The 
Bible tells you that affliction is but the preparation 


140 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


for the far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
glory. 

There is a jeweller. He is at work upon a peb¬ 
ble. He polishes it in fifteen minutes, and throws 
it aside. But to this gem, with the rainbow hues 
in its very heart, he gives days of careful labor,— 
grinding, cutting, crushing, with keen, strong, seem¬ 
ingly cruel instruments. Yon say to him, “ Why 
did you so soon cast aside the pebble ? and why do 
you give so much time and toil to this gem ? ” He 
will answer, u 0, the pebble was of no importance ; 
but this gem is to flash in a queen’s coronet.” And 
so there are somejwho are supposed to pass through 
life with little discipline. They are only pebbles. 
But others God cuts and crushes and polishes with 
grinding dispensations; and these are his jewels, 
that are to flash back the lustres of eternity — 
gems in Christ’s crown. 

Yes, the Bible, put it where you will, is always 
appropriate. For the dying head, oh what a pil¬ 
low is the Bible ! I often think that when I come 
to die I shall want my pocket Bible, and my family 
Bible, and all my children’s Bibles, for my pillow. 
I stood once beside the death-bed of a young man 
whose head and heart were pillowed on the Bible. 
His mother bent over him, when we thought he 
was almost gone, and said, “ Charlie, do you know 
me ? ” There was no answer ; and the broken- 


DR. TALMAGE AT THE SCOTT CHURCH, PA. 141 

hearted mother asked again, keeping down har 
sobs, “ Charlie, do you know me ? ” Then the 
glazed eyes were lifted to her face, and the fail¬ 
ing voice said gently, “ Oh, mother ! why do you 
call me back? I was half-way up the stair.” That’s 
it. Dying is an ascent; it is a rising up, it is 
only going up-stairs. The dying Christian advances 
to ford the Jordan, and as the water reaches his 
ankles, he asks, u Lord, is this death ? ” and Christ 
says “ No.” The swelling flood reaches to his knee; 
and again he asks, “ Is this death ? ” and again 
Christ says u No.” The water rises to his waist; 
but Christ still answers u No ” to his question , 11 Is 
this death ? ” It surges up to his lips, and to his 
gasping inquiry the same answer is still returned. 
But when Jordan is passed, and the redeemed spirit 
is led up to its throne, and the glories of heaven 
lie spread in infinite and splendid prospect at its 
very feet, then Christ says, “ This, my beloved, this 
is death.” 

That was a fine delirium of Christmas Evans, 
the Welsh evangelist, when he came to die. He 
imagined himself a king, riding homeward and 
heavenward in his triumphal chariot. The friends 
at his side he took for his subjects, and one of 
them, who sat at the foot of the bed, for his char¬ 
ioteer. As he passed away he made gestures, as 
waving a salute to multitudes of spectators, and at 


142 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


last he said triumphantly to his fancied charioteer, 
“ Drive on ! ” 

Yes, the Bible is pleasant to live by, anfl pleasant 
to die by. It is good to have it in your counting- 
house, and transact your business by the word of 
God. Honesty is the best policy. A dishonest dol¬ 
lar 1 You may bury deeper in the earth than ever 
mine was dug or cave explored ; you may heap 
over its grave rocks, boulders, hills; you may pile 
above them the proudest architectural triumphs of 
finance in banks and exchanges ; and yet the time 
will come when that dollar will begin to lift, and 
turn, and heave, till it has thrown off the superin¬ 
cumbent weight, and forced its way upward from 
the crypts of earth to the resurrection of damna¬ 
tion. Good in the counting-house, in the home, in 
the sick-room, the Bible is also good in the school. 
Palsied be the hand that would take it out. Edu¬ 
cated human nature without the Bible is an express 
train rushing down upon an open drawbridge. The 
Bible is the first of text-books. There must be no 
educating the head without the heart. Have it 
in your family. If you have neglected it hitherto, 
begin to-day. Open it, and read it to your chil¬ 
dren. There will come a time when you will fully 
realize that no book you have in your house is to 
be compared with it. You, young converts, who 
are beginning the Christian life, don’t let the infb 


DR. TALMAGE AT THE SCOTT CHURCH, PA. 143 

dels laugh you out of your faith in the Bible. Re¬ 
member that there is a hundredfold more weight 
of evidence to support its authenticity than to sup¬ 
port that of any other book in any literature. 

The speaker then referred to the revival in 
progress at the Scott Church, and to that which 
had just taken place at his own, when six hundred 
and seventy-eight new converts had united with 
his congregation, and closed by invoking the divine 
blessing upon all present. 

At the close of the service the pastor announced 
that Mr. Talmage had consented, though hurried, 
to remain and preach again in the afternoon, at 
three o’clock. At that hour the church was again 
crowded to excess, and another large representa¬ 
tion of the city pastors occupied the chancel. The 
sermon was from Ruth xi. 12: “ The Lord recom¬ 
pense thy work, and a full reward be given thee 
of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou 
art come to trust.” 

The mightiness of the divine protection, repre¬ 
sented by the frequent Scripture symbol of over¬ 
shadowing, sheltering, and protecting wings, was 
the subject to which the distinguished pulpit orator 
asked the attention of his hearers. Beneath these 
wings there was room for every creature in the 
universe. Christ himself had used the metaphor 
ffhen he lamented over Jerusalem and the refusal 


144 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


of her people to accept the shelter ing guardian¬ 
ship of Omnipotent tenderness. How often would 
God have gathered them as a hen gathered her 
chickens under her wings, yet they would not. 
Moses represented Israel as borne out of Egypt 
upon eagles’ wings, and David had described the 
relation of the chosen people to their God by the 
metaphor of the eaglet taught by the parent bird 
to fly. 

The destructive power of wings formed the next 
division of the sermon. The effect of a blow from 
the wing of a large and powerful bird was familiar. 
The swan was said to be capable of breaking a 
man’s limb by striking with its wing. The winged 
sun symbolized an aggressive imperial power; and 
in the same way the symbol of the divine power 
was sometimes a symbol of wrath. Those mighty 
wings struck the cities of the plain, swept the 
waves of the sea over the flower of Egypt’s army, 
overwhelmed Herculaneum, and wiped out the Na¬ 
poleonic dynasty. Yet, when spread abroad in 
mercy, how far-reaching was their shelter, how 
tender their gentleness ! Under their grateful 
shade the universe reposed. What was softer than 
a feather? How beautifully emblematic the downy 
wing of the tenderness of the divine love ! 

From this thought, by an easy transition, the 
preacher passed to the danger of delay in seek- 


DR. TALMAGE AT THE SCOTT CHURCH, PA. 145 

ing reconciliation to God, presenting an appalling 
death-bed scene, in which he had vainly endeav¬ 
ored to rouse a dying girl to hope, and closing 
with an appeal to parents to gather under the shel¬ 
tering wings, and bring their children with them. 
10 


146 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


CHAPTER XI. 

THE LAST NIGHT, BUT ONE, AT THE SCOTT M. E. 

CHURCH. 

The glory of God had so filled the temple all 
day, under the glorious sermons preached by Dr. 
Talmage, that the evening service was a culmina¬ 
tion of glory. There was so much power among 
the people that the praise service was most heav¬ 
enly, especially while singing 

“ What will it be to be there ? ” 

“ Heaven came down our souls to greet, 

And glory crowned the mercy-seat.” 

Dr. Cullis, of Philadelphia, was so filled with 
the Holy Ghost that he rose and spoke of the joys 
of the heavenly world, in words the most inspir¬ 
ing, while the “ Hallelujahs ! ” were quite frequent 
in the congregation. The writer rose and sang 
several verses, beginning with — 

“ I stand all bewildered with wonder, 

And gaze on this ocean of love ; 

And over its waves to my spirit 
Comes peace, like a heavenly dove. 


AT THE SCOTT M. E. CHURCH. 


147 


“ Cho.: The cross now covers my sin, 

The past is under the blood; 

I am trusting in Jesus for all, 

My will is the will of my God.” 

Waves of heavenly glory rolled over us and we 
exulted with joy unspeakable. 

Mr. Harrison came in, full of faith and of the 
Holy Ghost, and said, “We have had a glorious 
time all day, and God’s people have been blest. 
The converts never saw such a day as this. I 
have the witness that we shall have souls saved 
to-night. It is almost the last night of the feast. 
It is glorious to see so many souls saved, but it is 
sad to see so many out of the kingdom. Lord 
have mercy upon them, and help them to come in 
to-night. While singing, 

“ It is good to be here,” 

every soul seemed filled with the spirit. It is 
impossible to copy the glory and rapture that 
filled and thrilled the hearts of the people while 
singing that hymn. 

Rev. William M. Ridgway, the pastor, made 
mention of the kindness of the reporters, and of 
the press^ concerning the meetings. When Mr. 
Harrison said, u They have been very kind to me. 
When I was in Buffalo all the reporters came out 
against me, and said I ought to leave the city in 
three days; but God came down amongst us, arr/ 



148 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


saved nearly two hundred souls in spite of every¬ 
thing. God can make use of bad reporters for his 
own glory. In one place a reporter had a conver¬ 
sation with me, and then went and published a 
whole tissue of lies. But God smote him, and he 
was converted, and I am glad of it. Not glad that 
he told the lies, but that God overruled it for his 
conversion. Praise the Lord ! ” 

After singing, Mr. Harrison led in a most power¬ 
ful prayer — heaven and earth were moved. This is 
one of the secrets of his success : he moves God 
in mighty prayer, and then God helps him to move 
the people. Then he said : 

“ The harvest of this meeting is almost past. 
0 sinner! will you be gathered in ? The door 
will soon be shut; will you come in before it is too 
late ? I must not talk long, for 1 feel that many 
have made up their minds to come to this altar 
to-night,— that this call of mercy shall not pass till 
they are in the kingdom. 

“ I must do my duty. I am going to draw the 
line so straight that you can almost hear it snap. 
I am going to give you another opportunity to 
make your peace with God. From the days of 
Nehemiah till now men have been saved in re¬ 
vivals. 

“ It is God’s order to send i times of refreshing,’ 
and this is to you a time of refre*bwg, and if you 


AT THE SCOTT M. E. CHURCH. 


149 


are not saved in a time like this, it is doubtful if 
you are saved at all. 

“ Some men are so worldly that they think they 
will be ruined if they devote themselves to the 
service of God. Christ tells us of one man that 
was so absorbed in worldly things that he took no 
time to save his soul. When his lands brought 
him a great increase he would let none of it go for 
God, or for the poor, but would pull down his 
barns and build greater. It might have been in 
the days of John the Baptist, when multitudes 
were repenting, and being baptized ; but he would 
not attend John’s protracted meetings; he would 
not mingle with those fanatics, that had left their 
business and were all interested in religion. Not 
he ; he would mind his own business, and attend 
to his crops, and pull down his barns and build 
them greater, and after a new style, so that every 
body might see and admire them ; and while he 
was so full of himself, and thought little of God, 
God was thinking much of him, and charged one 
of his mighty angels to make ready his chariot, 
bridle the horses, and make haste and get his bow 
bent, and his arrow ready, and go down and sum¬ 
mon that 1 fool ’ into his presence. And just as he 
was telling his wife of the plans and calculations 
about his barns, and the improved plans after which 
he would have them made, he heard a strange 
sound, and said: 


150 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


“ 1 0 wife ! I hear an awful sound. What is it ? ’ 

“ 1 I*fail to hear anything/ said his wife. 

‘ 1 But I hear it, and it is awful. And then I see 
a horse and chariot; they are coming nearer to 
me ! Oh, there ; they are coming this way 1 Oh ! 
what shall I do? How shall I escape this day of 
doom ? What will become of all my crops ? Oh ! 
what will become of my soul ? ’ 

“ 1 Oh, let me live a little longer, and I will go to 
the revival meetings. I will repent, and be bap¬ 
tized. I will join the church. Oh, spare me ! 
spare me a little longer! Lord pity and save 
me.’ 

“ No, no ; there is no time for delay, the com¬ 
mand has gone forth from the throne : 1 Thou fool, 
this night thy soul shall be required of thee.’ This 
night, thou art arrested in the midst of thy folly. 
This night, thou must leave all thy boasted wealth, 
and appear before God. And the arrow of death 
entered his heart, and he fell down in the midst 
of his folly, and has a whole eternity to repent in. 
Oh, sinner, take warning, your days are numbered. 
Your end is nigh. 

“ I was in a meeting at half past two o’clock, 
one afternoon, and at half past four o’clock I was 
summoned to see a young lady who was near 
eternity. She said, 1 Will you preach to me about 
Jesus? I want to hear about Jesus.’ She seemed 


AT THE SCOTT M. E. CHURCH. 


151 


like a soul struggling to get hold of God for salva¬ 
tion. I began to preach from that text , i To them 
that believe, he — Christ— is precious/ and while 
I was preaching, the spirit fled. I looked down 
into the face, but it was cold. The eyes were dim, 
the destiny of another soul was sealed. 

“ Oh, take warning, and come to Jesus now! 
How many are present, to-night, that have been 
converted? Rise up on your feet.” 

Quite a company arose. 

11 How many are now in the Kingdom of God, 
and are saved? Rise up?” 

A vast multitude arose. 

“How many have a desire to be saved? Rise 
up.” 

From fifty to seventy-five arose, and many 
pressed their way to the altar, from the gallery, 
and from every part of the house. It was glori¬ 
ous to see them come, weeping and bowing be¬ 
fore God, smitten with conviction, and crying for 
mercy. 

One lady bowed at the altar before he invited 
them forward. She was so distressed that she 
could not stand upon her feet. It was quite im¬ 
pressive to see a mother kneel at the altar, and 
then her daughter come and kneel beside her, and 
say: 

“ Oh, mother, I am happy ! God has saved me, 
and he will save you. Trust Jesus.” 


152 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


Soon that mother was happily converted. Glory 
to God ! 

I went out into the congregation and was be¬ 
seeching a backslider to come forward, who had 
risen for prayers. I looked up the aisle, and there 
came a woman with her heart breaking, and her 
tears freely flowing. I went with her to the altar, 
and after a season of prayer I spoke to her, and 
she testified that God saved her soul while she 
was coming to the altar. Even before she had 
travelled from her distant seat to the altar to find 
Jesus, Jesus came all the way from heaven to meet 
her, and she was saved and went on her way re¬ 
joicing. As I was going about the congregation, 
I spoke to a young man, who confessed that he 
was grieving the Holy Spirit. He said to me: 

“ I attended the revival services at Wharton 
Street, and sometimes I felt the Spirit striving 
with me, but I did not yield. I have the same 
feelings now, but I am not ready to go to-night.” 
I urged him to come to Christ, and he promised to 
try. Will the readers of this book pray for him ? 

A cloud of glory rested upon that whole meet¬ 
ing, and many in the gallery rose for prayers, and 
some pressed their way from the gallery to the altar, 
and found mercy. One strong man bowed before 
God among the rest, and he was mightily saved. 
One lady, while bowing at the altar, said to me : 


AT THE SCOTT M. E. CHURCH. 153 

“ I had made up my mind to come to this altar 
and seek salvation to-night, for I was afraid it 
would be too late if I postponed it any longer.” 

Thus the meeting went on, hour after hour, while 
the angels in heaven were kept busy writing the 
names of the new-born sons and daughters of the 
Lord Almighty in the fair pages of the book of 
life. And thus ended one of the most glorious 
days of the Son of God, who has power on earth 
to forgive sins. Many in eternity will say , 11 God 
converted my soul in that heavenly place and 
service.” 


REMARKS. 

1. I consider this one of the grandest religious * 
movements of the age. It serves to show what 
can be done when only one minister of the gospel 

is fully baptized with the Holy Ghost, and when 
the Church of God will stand by that minister, 
hold up his hands, excuse his peculiarities, and 
work heartily with him for the salvation of souls. 

2. Then I am glad to learn that the converts in 
Mr. Harrison’s meetings hold out, and are just as 
faithful as the converts in any revivals. I took 
pains to inquire about this, as to the great revival 
in Wharton Street Church, Philadelphia. Rev. T. 

T. Tasker, one of God’s noblest men, who has been 
a member of the church for more than seventy 


154 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


years, and a local minister for half a century, says 
just what I have recorded above in relation to 
the converts in Philadelphia. Dr. Talmage tes¬ 
tifies the same as to the converts in his church. 
This is saying much when we remember that 
there were one thousand converts at Wharton 
Street, and nearly seven hundred in Brooklyn. 

3. It is not only the good done in these meet¬ 
ings, but also the good done out of them, by the 
mighty baptisms that come upon the people, and 
upon the ministers of other churches and other 
cities. And that is one of the reasons why I 
wish to publish this book, that the whole world 
may have the benefit of it; and that multitudes of 
ministers and Christian workers may read it, and 
catch the inspiration from it. I confess that no 
book, except the Bible, has done my soul so much 
good, as the reading of those books that tell the tri¬ 
als and triumphs of holy men and women, especially 
in reading the accounts of the marvellous victories 
of Rev. James Caughey in soul-saving. How he 
led twenty thousand souls to Jesus in England and 
Ireland, besides some ten thousand that were fully 
sanctified to God under his instrumentality. 

4. I here confess that while reading, the second 
time, the wonderful works of God under the la¬ 
bors of Rev. A. B. Earle, as seen in “ Bringing in 
Sheaves,” I was so mightily baptized that my soul 


AT THE SCOTT M. E. CHURCH. 


155 


was filled and thrilled with the Holy Ghost, I said: 
u 0 Lord, is it possible for one man to do so much 
good, who is wholly given up to it ? Then would 
it not be for thy glory to have another one just 
like him? If so, here am I, send me.” And in a 
moment the power of God fell upon me, and I was 
ordained for the work of an Evangelist, and said 
to my family, “ I am an Evangelist from this hour.” 

Now I write this book that many more may read 
the wonderful works of God, and get fully baptized 
with the Holy Ghost. 


156 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


CHAPTER XII. 

THE LAST DAY AT SCOTT M. E. CHURCH. 

This was another field day; the last day of Mr. 
Harrison’s labors. The wonderful power of the 
day before will never be forgotten. The glory 
still lingered. Notwithstanding the unfavorable 
weather many gathered to listen to a most blessed 
gospel sermon, by Bishop Campbell, at ten, a. m., 
from Job xxii. 21 : “ Acquaint now thyself with 
God, and be at peace, thereby good shall come 
unto thee.” Can we become acquainted with God ? 
Many deny it, but it is because they have not formed 
that acquaintance. From a blessed experience of 
this acquaintance with God for fifty-five years I 
testify that it is possible. 

There has been a telephonic arrangement going 
on between God and man all the time since the 
days of Abraham. There is a duty that we owe tc 
God, and we owe it to ourselves. There is some¬ 
thing to be done to make this acquaintance with 
God. You must make your acquaintance agreea- 


THE LAST DAY AT SCOTT M. E. CHURCH. 157 

ble by giving up all that will not please him. 
When you come to God to form his acquaintance, 
bring your whole self, and ask him to make of 
you all that he will. 

Nothing can satisfy the soul but this acquaint¬ 
ance with God; neither riches, nor honor, nor 
power, nor the respect of the world, will supply 
the place of this acquaintance with God. 

You cannot make your acquaintance agreeable 
with him unless you believe him. “ He that com- 
eth to God, must believe that he is, and that he is 
a rewarder of all them that diligently seek him.” 

I cannot stop to record more of that soul-stirring 
sermon; but I must say, it was a feast for the soul , 
and many shouted aloud for joy. God bless the 
Bishop. 

At two o’clock, p. M., there was a glorious love 
feast. The singing and testimonies reminded you 
of the heaven of heavens. 

At three o’clock, p. m., Dr. W. R. Cullis preached 
an excellent sermon, of rare worth, and great pow¬ 
er. Duty called me away, so that I cannot re¬ 
port it. 

In the evening the house was literally packed 
with people ; gallery, aisles, altar, pulpit, and ves¬ 
tibule were all full, and some were in the vestry. 
It was also filled with the glory of God. 

Mr. Harrison came in during the praise service, 


158 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


and began to proclaim victory, through the blood 
of Jesus, to all that would come to Christ. He 
faithfully warned all to accept the last invitation, 
and said: 

“ Many are come here to-night on purpose to give 
themselves to Christ! Some are waiting for an in¬ 
vitation. Oh, for one hundred souls for Jesus ! 
Oh, that every man and woman in the church would 
come to Christ to-night! I want to have one jubi¬ 
lee before I die. We came very near it in one 
place where there were about one hundred con¬ 
verted in one night. I am expecting it to-night. 
It is coming. We have the warning of it now. 

“ I cannot stop to preach a sermon to you. In 
Baltimore we had no sermon for sixteen weeks. 
One minister got ready to preach a sermon but so 
many wanted salvation that he had no opportunity. 
I have had to work hard in this place. In some places 
I have not had to labor so hard. Sinners would come 
forward for prayers while we were singing the first 
hymn. Here we have had the political excitement 
to contend with; and all the powers of hell. Yet 
we have had about three hundred souls converted. 
God has given us the victory. Many churches are 
dying out because they have lost the glory. They 
are afraid of a shout. 

u One man said to me , 1 My sister was converted 
in your meetings. She lived awhile on earth, and 


THE LAST DAY AT SCOTT M. E. CHURCH. 169 

then went to heaven. When she was dying, she 
said, u God bless Brother Harrison ! ” ’ 

u I am glad to see so many young men here to 
night. In one revival nearly three hundred young 
men were converted. I close my labors here with 
one word, that is used so many times in the Bible, 
it is the word 1 Come.’ The meeting will be either 
the salvation or the damnation of some souls, the 
saver of life unto life, or of death unto death. 

u I hear some of you saying, 1 1 want to come 
to Christ. I am willing to go to the altar. I will 
do anything to become a Christian.’ Well, I am 
glad of it. If you do, God will save you.” 

Here he read Paul’s parting words to the elders 
at Ephesus, Acts xx. 18 : “ Ye know, from the first 
day that I came unto you, after what manner I 
have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord 
With all humility of mind, and with many tears and 
temptations. And how I kept back nothing that 
is profitable unto you, but have showed you, and 
taught you publicly, and from house to house. You 
know I have gone after you in every direction.” 
“ The whole drift of my labors has been to lead you 
to Christ. 

“ 1 And now, behold, I go bound in the Spirit,’ 
unto a New England town, not knowing the things 
that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost 
witnesseth in every city that bonds and afflictions 


100 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


abide me. But none of these things move me, neither 
count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might 
finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which 
I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the 
gospel of the grace of God.” 

“ In my seventeenth year I was called, and thrust 
out to preach the gospel of the Son of God. 
1 Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I 
am pure from the blood of all men.’ 

u I must be careful here. I am treading on dan¬ 
gerous ground. I cannot say that yet. There are 
some of you that have come in to-night out of cu¬ 
riosity, for the first time, and I am not clear of you 
till I invite and urge you to come to Christ. Oh, do 
come to Christ to-night! When I was at a certain 
camp-meeting, there was a rich man who was so 
convicted for his sins, by the Holy Ghost, that he 
could not go home ; he stayed at that evening 
meeting till nearly twelve o’clock. Some one 
found him leaning against a post, and said to him, 
1 Why do you stay in the meetings so long ? * ( I 

am deeply concerned for my soul/ he replied. 1 1 
want salvation/ ” 

Brother Harison went on to say, “ If any one of 
you can say that I have not done my duty to you, 
I will do it to-night. I will do anything to help 
you that I am able to do.” 

On the last night of the meetings, in one place, 


THE LAST DAY AT SCOTT M. E. CHURCH. 161 

a young man was found in the vestry, kneeling 
down, and crying for mercy. Some one said, 
“What is the matter with you?” He replied, 
“ I have let all these meetings go by, and I am not 
saved. I must have salvation before this meeting 
closes.” 

Mr. Harrison continued, “ Oh, that many of you 
would do the same to-night! This is my last in¬ 
vitation till I meet you all at the judgment-seat 
of Christ. Oh, be ready for that great day ! 

“Now, all that have been saved since I came 
here rise up.” 

Quite a crowd arose to their feet. 

“ Now all that feel that you are saved now , 
arise.” 

A multitude sprang to their feet. 

“ Now all that want me to remember you in this 
last prayer arise.” 

Many responded to this call, and rose up in the 
gallery, and in all parts of the church. “ Now, I 
will give you four minutes to decide. It is now 
twenty-five minutes to nine by my watch. I put 
the matter as plain as I can. All that want to be 
saved, rise to your feet.” 

They continued to arise all over the church. 

“ There are just two minutes more. I would not 
keep my seat to-night upon any account. One 
11 


162 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


minute more. Still rise up. Only half a minute, 
and I must close this invitation.” 

I should think that one hundred rose for prayers. 
Some were so distressed for their sins that they 
fell down at the altar before the mourners were 
invited to kneel. One lady had been waiting all 
the evening in the vestry, for the privilege of bow¬ 
ing before God at the altar. 

While the most spirited hymns were sung, they 
rushed forward from every part of the church, 
even from the gallery. And in a few minutes some 
were powerfully converted. They were born into 
the kingdom before we had had any opportunity 
for a season of prayer. 

It was glorious to see and feel the power of God 
manifested in that meeting. The converts were 
so melted before God, that when they arose they 
could hardly stand upon their feet. 

The doxology was sung again and again, as the 
converts gave evidence that they were converted. 
They were not encouraged to arise till the work 
of grace was completed. 

I have been in one hundred and fifty revivals 
myself, but I never saw any converts stronger than 
those that found peace with God that night. One 
of them leaped upon her feet, and praised God 
with joyful lips and overflowing heart. 

One lady had been seeking salvation for nine 


THE LAST DAY AT SCOTT M. E. CHUKCH. 16-i 

months, and was considered a very difficult case. 
Rev. C. Malmsbury, of New Jersey, spent two 
hours upon his knees to help this doubting heart 
into the kingdom. He showed her the way of sal¬ 
vation in its simplicity; and she went home trust¬ 
ing in Jesus. 

It was thought that twenty-six were converted 
that night. 

PARTING SCENES. 

The altar service continued till about thirty min¬ 
utes past ten o'clock, when the solemn scene of 
parting came. Many had been compelled to leave 
before that time, and many remained upon their 
knees, determined to find salvation ; and several 
were converted while the hand-shaking was going 
on. Glory to God for that ever-memorable night! 

The pastor and evangelist stood near the altar- 
rail, while the people passed by and gave Mr. Har¬ 
rison the parting hand, and the parting word. He 
spoke to them as he had opportunity, “ Good-by ! 
God bless you ! ” 

When this part of the service closed, the pastor 
said : “ Before these meetings began, some one 

said, that I and Mr. Harrison could not work to¬ 
gether ; but that was all that they knew about it. 
We have worked together in beautiful harmony. 
I have worked with all kinds of men, but I nevei 
worked with so much unity of feeling with an) 


164 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


man as with Mr. Harrison. He has always con¬ 
sulted me in everything, and there has not been 
the least difficulty, in any way.” 

Turning to Mr. Harrison, he said: “ If they will 
not receive you at Meriden I am instructed by 
the trustees of this church to say to you, that you 
may come back to this place and begin meetings 
again at once.” 

When the pastor said this, there was a general 
shout all over the church, showing how greatly the 
evangelist was beloved. Mr. Ridgway said further: 
" I take this opportunity to invite you to help me 
in my next charge, wherever it may be.” 

Mr. Harrison replied : “ The trustees have treated 
me with great kindness, and so has the pastor. 
The Lord reward you. Let me pray for you all.” 

Then he offered one of the most impressive 
prayers: praying for everybody and everything — 
for the pastor and the people, for the trustees, for 
the converts and the inquirers, not forgetting to 
pray for the policemen who had kept such excel¬ 
lent order. 

And as we passed out, a few minutes afterward, 
I saw the policemen standing inside the church. 
They had evidently heard the earnest prayer in 
their behalf, for one of them was under conviction. 
L said to him, “ Do you want to be a Christian ? ” 
With a choked voice he said : 


THE LAST DAY AT SCOTT M. E. CHURCH. 165 

“ I suppose I shall have to come to it at last.” 

I know the Spirit of God was striving with him. 
The other policeman was quite candid, and evi¬ 
dently impressed. 

After taking a farewell of the pastor and officers 
of the church Mr. Harrison took the 1.35, A. M., 
train, that he might make a visit to his mother, in 
Boston, and stay jmt one day , and then begin ser¬ 
vices the next night at Meriden, Conn., in the M. 
E. Church, Rev. I. J. Lansing, pastor. 

1 have given a minute account of Mr. Harrison’s 
exhortation, and parting services, that the reader 
may have a true idea of the man, and his way of 
working. 

REFLECTIONS. 

1. He begins all his meetings with the fullest 
faith in God; confident that God is with him, and 
that God will help him, and give him the victory. 

2. This faith diffuses itself among the members 
of the church, and even the unconverted begin to 
believe that God is in the meeting, and that some 
of their number will be converted, and that pos¬ 
sibly they may be of the number. They see that 
he is expecting them to start for heaven, and they 
get ready to do so while he is speaking to them. 
They know that he is in earnest, and has faith for 
them ; and his strong faith has much to do with 
helping their weak faith. 


166 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


3. He never talks doubtingly, but shouts “ Glory 
to God ! ” in the most trying hour. He 

“ Sees the victory from afar,— 

By faith he brings it nigh.” 

4. He seems to be afraid to interpose a long 
sermon between him and the unconverted, lest 
they should have their attention taken up with the 
sermon and the preacher, and he fail to lead them 
to an immediate decision for Christ. 

5. Out of the fulness of his heart he speaks till 
he thinks he has made an impression, and that 
sinners are ready to come to Christ. Then he 
stops, whether he has spoken five minutes or fif¬ 
teen ; and this very fact, with the great success that 
he has in winning souls, makes him a wonder to all 
the great preachers that are acquainted with him. 
He honors God, and God honors him. 

6. He often begins his exhortations by saying, 
11 Now I must not exhort too long, for there are 
sinners here that want to be saved, and I must 
give them the opportunity.” He is careful not to 
call the sinners by any hard names, or to make 
them angry. He keeps them in good humor. Yet 
he does not fail to tell them of the fearful and 
eternal consequences of postponing their day of 
salvation. So, in one way or other, he manages to 
keep the crowd around him, and to get large nunp 
bers of them to seek salvation. 


THE LAST DAY AT SCOTT M. E. CHURCH. 167 

7. This it is that perplexes every minister that 1 
have talked with about him. They say: 

“ We cannot understand it: that this youth will 
hold the masses so long, when he preaches so 
short. Why is it that the people will come to 
listen to such brief exhortations ? and, especially, 
why is it that so many of them are persuaded to 
turn to the Lord ? It is a mystery to us all.” 

Yet, I expect some of them are able to under¬ 
stand the mystery when they remember that God 
is in the matter. That this youth is found in his 
closet, wrestling with God in mighty prayer, and 
taking the kingdom by storm. Laughing at impos¬ 
sibilities, and crying, “ It shall be done ! ” 

8. When some one asked Rev. James Caughey 
why he had such wonderful power that so many 
thousands were converted under his preaching, he 
replied: 

u Knee work — knee work — knee work. That 
is the secret.” 

“ My powerful groans thou canst not bear, 

Nor quench the violence of prayer — 

My prayer omnipotent.” 

u Give me a revival, or I pine away and die,” is a 
cry that is much thought of in heaven. God will 
pity and bless the soul and labors of such a man. 
He will come down out of his holy place, and slay 
the dragon, and cut Rahab in pieces, and the slain 


168 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


of the Lord shall be many. He who thus travails 
for souls in secret shall see them born into the 
kingdom, and be able to sing and inquire — 

“ Who, I ask, in a maze, 

Hath begotten me these ? 

And inquire from what quarter they come: 

My full heart replies — 

• They are born from the skies, 

And gives glory to God and the Lamb.” 

9. Then we must not forget that God is pleased, 
at times, to raise up special agents to use extraor¬ 
dinary means to arouse the churches to shake off 
their slumbers, and to alarm the guilty consciences 
of men. Such a man shall see the desire of his 
heart — the salvation of souls. Hell shall mourn, 
and heaven shall be glad. 

10. In this connection I want to repeat that the 
spirited and spiritual singing in these meetings of 
Mr. Harrison's has much to do with holding and 
impressing the masses who attend hte meetings. 
They sing and sing the very sentiments that he 
wants to impress upon them, till it becomes incor¬ 
porated into their mental and spiritual being. For 
instance, take the following: 

“ What can wash away my sin? 

Nothing but the blood of Jesus; 

What can make me whole again? 

Nothing but the blood of Jesus; 


THE LAST DAY AT SCOTT M. E. CHURCH. 169 

“ Nothing can for sin atone — 

Nothing but the blood of Jesus; 

Naught of good that I have done — 

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” 

How their false hopes will fly as they sing the 
whole of that blessed hymn. 

Then, how the sinner is encouraged to seek sal¬ 
vation by singing: 

“ The Saviour is calling you sinner — 

Urging you now to draw nigh; 

He asks you by faith to receive him — 

Jesus will help if you try. 

Ref.: Jesus will help you, Jesus will help you — 

Help you with grace from on high; 

The weakest and poorest the Saviour ,s calling — 

Jesus will help if you try.” 

Then, when the sinner is converted, how it will 
cheer his soul to sing: 

“ Down at the Cross where my Saviour died, 

Down where for cleansing from sin I cried, — 

There to my heart was the blood applied. 

Glory to his name! ” 

Then let him sing his experience in the follow- 
ing stanza. 

“ I am so wondrously saved from sin, 

Jesus so sweetly abides within, 

There at the Cross where he took me in — 

Glory to his name 1 ” 

And the whole soul is aroused, the deep of the 
heart is stirred, and the fire of devotion is fanned 


170 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


to a flame. We have got to learn more of the 
power of holy song in religious worship, es¬ 
pecially in Revival Services. There was a holy 
enthusiasm in the singing in the Philadelphia and 
Baltimore meetings that did much to carry on the 
good work. Some people are afraid of enthusiasm 
in religion; but I am persuaded that there was 
much holy enthusiasm on the day of Pentecost, 
and we want more and more of it in our day. 
The people need their emotions stirred. They 
have knowledge enough in their heads, but they 
want a fire in their hearts. They know their 
duties, but they want to be inspired to do them. 

If God’s ministers would remember this, and 
labor to persuade men to an action of tlieir wills ; 
to an immediate decision for God, instead of spend¬ 
ing so much time in teaching them, then they 
would have to rejoice over new-born souls. Then 
they would have their congregations increased, 
and their churches filled up; and God himself 
would smile upon them, and say “ Well done 1 ” 

“ Oil, clothe their words with power divine, 

And let those words be ever thine; 

To them thy sacred truth reveal: 

Suppress their fear, inflame their zeal.** 


REMARKABLE INCIDENTS. 


171 


CHAPTER XIII. 

REMARKABLE INCIDENTS. 

A policeman was appointed to guard the doors 
df the church during the services at Baltimore, 
owing to the pressure of the crowds who sought 
admission. On one occasion a young man came 
after the church was full, and was refused admis¬ 
sion by the policeman. He urged his request with 
importunity, and said that Mr. Harrison had invited 
specially, that night, such as he to attend. The 
policeman had been duped on a previous occasion 
by a similar plea, and still objected to let the 
young man in. At length he consented to appeal 
to Mr. Harrison as to the truth of the statement, 
and the policeman and the young man entered 
together. While waiting to speak to the evange¬ 
list the power of the Holy Spirit operated on the 
hearts of both, and that night the policeman and 
his charge were both rejoicing in the Saviour. 

A YOUNG CAPTAIN, 

There was living in Baltimore, at the time, a 
young soldier, who had been a captain in the army. 


172 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


He was an intelligent man, and something of a wit. 
He was the leader of a circle of godless young 
men, whose chief delight consisted in caricaturing 
religion and religious teachers, and he was deputed 
to hear “ the boy preacher,” and report to his asso¬ 
ciates. He made his way into one of the meet¬ 
ings with this wicked object. Mr. Harrison’s first 
words that night were: “ My text is but one word, 
and I have but a very few words to say about it. 
My text is 1 Eternity / and I ask you where you will 
spend it ? ” The man heard no more; with the 
question ringing in his ears he left the building. 
He found his associates, and said, “ that man has 
asked me a question I cannot answer. He wanted 
to know where I was going to spend eternity, and 
I believe I shall spend it in hell. I am going back 
to talk to him.” He returned to the meeting ac¬ 
companied by his friends, and before Mr. Harrison 
left Baltimore he had the pleasure of seeing them 
all publicly profess their faith in Jesus, and their 
joy in His salvation. 

DYING SISTER, AND ONE HUNDRED CONVERSIONS. 

The following most striking incidents will be 
read with the deepest interest. 

A pure-minded invalid sister was exceedingly 
anxious for the salvation of her wicked brothers. 

She invited them around her dying bed, and 


REMARKABLE INCIDENTS. 


17b 


besought them to come to Christ for salvation. 
One of them was deeply affected, and in a few 
days he sent a letter to the ringleader of the 
company of wicked men that he mingled with, 
asking for a private interview. The letter was 
answered in person ; and after inquiring as to the 
great secret for which he sent for him, he was 
surprised to find that he was sent for because his 
friend was in earnest for the salvation of his soul, 
but did not want to go forward for prayers with¬ 
out having his companions go with him. After 
hearing his simple story, he said to his friend : 

u I am glad for you. I hope you will go on with 
your good purpose. I do not know what I shall 
do ; but we will write letters of invitation, and 
have a meeting in my parlor.” 

The letters were sent, and some fifteen wicked 
men met to decide what they would do in relation 
to the salvation of their souls. Not a Christian 
among them. But they had told a Christian man 
to be ready if they should call for his help. They 
discussed this great subject till nine o’clock, p. M. 
There was one noted drunkard among them, who 
had made his home more like hell than heaven. 
He arose and said: 

“ Boys, you all know me, and you know what a 
wicked man I have been, and how miserable I 
have made my family. I hav** decided that it is 


174 THE BOY PREACHER. 

time for me to change my course of life. I am 
going to the Union Square church, and am going 
forward for prayers, if I have to go alone.” 

This settled the matter with eight more, and 
they all, nine, went to the church to seek salva¬ 
tion. The pastor had expected them all the even¬ 
ing, and met them at the door of the church, and 
made a way for them to go to the altar. They 
pressed their way through the crowd, and cried 
mightily to God for mercy, and found salvation. 

The next day they sent out letters in every 
direction, inviting their companions to meet in the 
vestry of the church, and about fifty responded to 
the call, — not a Christian among them except the 
converts. But Dr. France stood ready to go down 
and help them when they gave the signal. 

After the pastor went down to the vestry, Mr. 
Oran, the miserable drunkard I wrote about, arose, 
and said, “ Gentlemen, you all know me — what an 
awful sinner I have been. But God has wrought 
a great change in me. He has forgiven all my 
sins, and renewed my heart after his likeness ; and 
if you cannot believe me, who have been so wicked,, 
then go and ask my wife.” 

This was conclusive evidence that he was truly 
converted, and was fully determined to be faithful 
to God and man. This man had great talents for 
business, and could make money easy ; and he was 


REMARKABLE INCIDENTS. 


175 


the hope of the pastor for future usefulness. But, 
alas ! in a little while he was paralyzed. Thus all 
his hopes for this world were blighted ; but he had 
a blooming hope of heaven, and suffered all the 
will of God with great meekness. Dr. France had 
a conviction that this man would recover. He 
pleaded the promise found in the epistle of James, 
11 Is any sick among you, let him send for the elders 
of the church, and let them pray over him,” etc. 
But after a while he had an impression, while wait¬ 
ing before God in his closet, that this man would 
die. The conviction was so deep that he went and 
told the dear brother, 11 1 have felt all along that 
you would recover; now I am convinced that you 
will cbe.” 

He welcomed the news with holy reconciliation, 
saying, ‘‘ I am waiting for God to say either 1 Come 
up/ or 1 Get up.’” He lingered awhile, and then 
passed on to the joys of heaven, a brand plucked 
out of the fire. 

The converts of this band multiplied from time 
to time, till there were about fifty of them saved; 
then they brought their wives and daughters, till, 
directly or indirectly, this dying sister was the 
means of bringing more than one hundred to the 
altar, and to Christ. Praise God 1 

Some weeks the converts would be nearly all 
men; then the next week they would be mostly 


176 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


women. There was quite a little army of young 
men converted, besides young ladies and children; 
so that the whole of that part of the city was 
mightily moved. The rumsellers were mad, and 
some of them had to go into other business, and 
some of the worst men and women were saved ; 
so that “ they that turned the world upside down 
were come thither also.” 

What a wonderful power this gospel is ! How 
it destroys the power of sin, and makes the slaves 
of sin to become freemen in Christ Jesus ! Some¬ 
times the power of God was so manifest in these 
meetings that the strongest men and women trem¬ 
bled with fear. One night this power swept across 
the altar with so much force that you could almost 
see it. Some ten or twelve were converted in about 
ten minutes. The presiding elder, Mr. Downs, says 
“ it was fearfully majestic.” His wife says she be¬ 
lieved that every sinner at the altar would have 
been converted in a few minutes if the people of 
God had not been frightened. 

Let us hear some of the testimonies of this wicked 
body of men that I have been writing about, after 
they had been converted. The first says : “ I was 
attending the meetings, at intervals, for two months. 
At first I sat in the gallery; then I sat below, on 
the floor of the church; then I sat nearer and 
nearer to the altar, till I reached the third seat 


REMARKABLE INCIDENTS. 177 

from the altar. The invitation was given for those 
who desired prayers, to rise. I did so; and, after 
considering the matter over carefully, I concluded 
to give my heart to God, and change my mode of 
living.” 

The second one says: u I was invited by some 
ladies to visit Union Square church, to see the 
evangelist Harrison. I went, but was disappointed. 
The evangelist was not there. I heard Dr. France 
preach. I had no particular interest in the mat¬ 
ter till I received two letters from a friend, which 
somewhat aroused my feelings, and I concluded not 
to drive the good spirit away, and consented to 
hold a meeting in my parlor, for the purpose of 
fully considering the subject. From this, and out 
of this, some hundred or more were converted. 
This meeting was composed of fifteen men of the 
world, men who had seen all that the world calls 
pleasure, such as drinking and gambling; and when 
the object of the meeting was stated, it naturally 
created no little excitement and surprise among 
such a body of men. We concluded that it was a 
duty that we owed to God, aside from our feelings. 
God had given us all the pleasures to enjoy that 
were real; and besides these all others were re¬ 
morse and condemnation. After reaching this con¬ 
clusion, it was easy to make a resolution to start.” 
This man became a devoted Christian. Out of this 
12 


1T8 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


number of men converted, Dr. France says, only 
one has fallen from grace. 

The third witness testified : “ I had one thought 
in my mind nearly all the time — that I would 
change my mode of living after marriage. Still I 
found myself drifting farther aw T ay from God. My 
first sight of Mr. Harrison was an unfavorable one. 
I began to ridicule his actions after leaving the 
church. I was convicted by a remark made by Mr. 
Harrison, whom I had criticised. He stood, holding 
the Bible in his hand, and exclaimed, 1 Ask and 
ye shall receive.’ This started me to thinking. 
I went home, and taking up my Bible I began to 
read it. I then retired, and began to think what I 
was to sacrifice. I could not reach the giving-up 
point. The next day I asked one of my friends to 
come with me, that we might be a power for good 
to ourselves and others ; that we might lead some 
twenty-five souls to Jesus. He said: 

“ 1 This is hard that I have this responsibility 
resting upon me/ and he concluded to test the 
matter. I then began to write to different indi¬ 
viduals. They responded in person, and we met 
at a friend’s house. The result was the conversion 
of a large number of persons.” 

The fourth witness testifies: “Before Mr. Har¬ 
rison came, I felt myself a hardened sinner. When 
Dr. France was exhorting I was so hardened that 


REMARKABLE INCIDENTS. 179 

I could laugh at him all the evening. But I made 
up my mind to change my course of life. Two 
weeks after, I went to the altar and obtained of 
Christ the pardon of my sins.” 

The fifth witness says : “ While standing in the 
aisle of the church, I was approached by Brother 
Schofield, — then a perfect stranger, — who said : 
1 Where are you going to spend eternity? “He that 
knoweth the Lord’s will, and doeth it not, shall be 
beaten with many stripes .” 1 This, with some ef¬ 
forts of another, caused me to ponder, and turn to 
Christ.” 

The sixth person testifies : “ I had not been in 
the habit of attending church. Out of curiosity I 
went to hear Mr. Harrison. He gave me two 
special invitations, and I decided to become a 
Christian.” 

The seventh person says : “ For five years after 
marriage I asked a blessing at my table, though 1 
did not profess religion. Then I thought, This 
is not consistent with my mode of life, and I gave 
it up. 

“ I was convicted of my wrong-doing by my little 
daughter, who kept asking her papa to pray at the 
table. This convicted me, and led me to embrace 
the opportunity afforded me by the revival ser¬ 
vices to give my heart to God.” 

The ninth person says: “ My wife gave vent to 


180 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


her feelings one night as we were about to retire, 
and said * Glory to God! ’ This led to my salvation.” 

Thus the good work went on, in the church and 
in the homes. Meanwhile the pastor was keeping 
a faithful record of all the converts, taking their 
names when they gave evidence of being truly 
converted, and summing up the number saved 
every week. One week one hundred and seventy- 
three were converted ; the next week, ninety-nine. 
Thus it went on. 


CASES OP WARNING. 

One young man attended most of the meetings 
at Wharton Street revival but refused to give his 
heart to God. Somebody spoke to him about 
becoming a Christian. He said, “ If I go to hell I 
expect to meet Mr. Harrison there.” 

This showed a bitterness of soul that was far 
from being commendable. God had his eye upon 
him. After a time he was taken with small-pox, 
and died in two days. 

It is remarkable that a young lady pursued the 
same course of opposition to God in the same 
meeting, and she, too, was taken sick with the same 
disease, and died in about the same length of time 
after she was taken. 

These are solemn facts, given me by one of the 
pastors. To my mind they are clear cases of the 
“sin unto death” See 1 John v. 16. 


FAMILIAR TALKS. 


181 


CHAPTER XIY. 

MR. HARRISON’S FAMILIAR TALKS. 

BALTIMORE FRIDAY MEETING. 

Rev. Thomas Harrison read a part of the 116th 
Psalm. u I love the Lord, because he hath heard 
my voice and my supplications. Because he hath 
inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon 
him as long as I live.” He said : u I never knew 
one but received pardon, and purity also, when 
they gave up all and trusted God fully. I have 
witnessed hundreds sanctified by the grace of 
God, and in every case they had given up all, and 
received all. Bramwell says, for thirty-four years, 
from the time he was sanctified, he never had a 
ripple on his soul. All care, anxiety, and fear 
were gone, because God reigned in his soul. Some 
persons are complaining of their leanness all the 
time. That is not best. It is better to get a clean 
heart, and be filled with the Spirit. The fault of 
our leanness is often in ourselves. We do not 
pray enough. We hurry out into the world, and 


182 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


become engrossed in its business and its cares. 
We ought to wait more with God. Sometimes in 
waiting long before God I get so baptized, and 
come down and go to work for him, and through 
grace, God gives me great power with the people. 
Last night we had glorious times at the watch¬ 
meeting. Through the inclement weather many 
came, and we had a glorious night. No doubt many 
will be converted, as the results of that meeting. 
To-day I have been enjoying wave after wave of 
God’s glory. It has been a blessed day to me, as 
God has come and baptized me with his Spirit. 
Oh, that the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire 
may come upon us to-day ! 11 

“Now we will change this meeting. I hope 
many will come up here, and seek full salvation. 
When I was sixteen years old I was converted; 
at' the age of eighteen, I sought purity, and the 
Lord came and dwelt in my soul in all his fulness. 
He gave me a peace that is still undisturbed, a 
rest that now remains.” 

A number of persons arose, and came forward 
and knelt for heart purity. Two penitents knelt 
for pardon. Several sweet songs were sung, and 
several prayers offered. Before closing, Mr. Har¬ 
rison suggested that we sing, upon our knees, four 
verses of the hymn : 

“ Come, O Thou Traveller unknown.” 


183 


FAMILIAR TALKS. , 

And at tlie end of each verse, one was sanctified, 
until four verses were sung. Then four persons 
arose, and testified to the cleansing power of the 
blood of Christ. 

BALTIMORE FRIDAY MEETING, CONTINUED. 

Another densely crowded audience to-day. Every 
seat in the lecture-room was occupied long before 
the hour of meeting. People stood upon their 
feet in the aisles for two hours, during the entire 
meeting. Four souls were sanctified to-day. To 
God alone be all the glory 1 

After the opening hymn was sung, fervent 
prayer was offered by a German minister present, 
followed with a second prayer by Mr. Harrison. 
Another song of praise being sung, Mr. Harrison 
read from the Scripture lesson, a part of the third 
chapter of the First Epistle of John : “ Behold 
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed 
upon us, that we should be called the sons of God,” 
etc. At the conclusion of the lesson, Mr. Harrison 
remarked: 11 1 have just read in this chapter, where 
the apostle says , 1 Beloved, now are we the sons 
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall 
be; ’ that is, we don’t know how much God has in 
store for us if we go on in this good way,. Whem 
I was converted, I was so happy that I thought I 
had all there was for me. But I soon found out 


184 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


I needed more. Then when I was sanctified, I 
thought I had all; but I have found out that there 
is more and more to follow all the while, blessed 
be God! So it is with us when we get sanctified, 
we may go on and enjoy more of the love and ful¬ 
ness of Christ every day. Some Christians, who 
seem to be low down in their experience, charge 
us with boasting; let us give them some cheer. 
David says: 1 My soul shall make her boast in the 
Lord; the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.’ 
My experience this week, has been a moving 
experience, not all joy, but continually moving 
toward Christ. I am so glad that God says , 1 the 
Christian shall never be removed from him.’ Now, 
dear friends, let us have brief testimonies during 
the next twenty minntes.” 

ANOTHER BALTIMORE FRIDAY MEETING. 

u Mr. Harrison was present again to-day, and the 
church was packed to overflowing. The meeting 
was an extraordinary one, more glorious than that 
of last week. 

“ After singing the first hymn, Brother Supplee 
led in prayer; another hymn was sung, when Sis¬ 
ter Eberhart was called upon to lead in prayer. 
During this season of prayer God poured out His 
Spirit in blessings upon the people. 

“ Mr. Harrison remarked that last Friday’s meet- 


FAMILIAR TALKS. 


185 


mg here was one of the most glorious he ever wit¬ 
nessed. He had heard favorable reports of it from 
all parts of the city. He prayed that the Lord 
might make this meeting even more glorious than 
that of last week. He had understood that about 
eight persons were sanctified that day. Said 
he, Happiness is good, but it is not the main 
thought. Holiness, without which no man shall 
see the Lord, that is the main thought. Jesus 
says, 1 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they 
shall see God.’ Some people say ‘Yes, we will see 
Him after death.’ But I tell you that you may see 
Him now. Persons somehow seem to have a 
blinded vision of God, because of some hidden 
idol, or of some cherished sin, which they are not 
willing to give up. There are some persons here 
to-day who are saying, ‘ Well, I would like to be 
sanctified to-day.’ Well, you may have it now. 
Well, we are going down under the blood to-day, 
another we are going up. It is your own fault if 
you are not satisfied. How many are crying, 0 my 
leanness, 0 my leanness! when you might be feed¬ 
ing on the finest of the wheat. There are plenty 
of dwarfs now in the church, who go to church 
and to class and to the communion. Yet they are 
ignorant about a religion that saves. Still they 
hope to get to heaven ; but they will be deceived. 
I am glad we can get rid of sin. Glory to God 1 


186 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


We can do a perfect work. You inquire , 1 How caD 
I get a clean heart ?’ Why, you can get it now, and 
here. You have tried the world, and it has de¬ 
ceived you; you have tried its pleasures, but they 
have not satisfied you. The devil says 1 to-mor¬ 
row r ; but remember the word of the Lord, 1 Ye 
be able to go up at once , and possess the land. 

“When I was seeking sanctification, I read Wes¬ 
ley, and Madame Guyon, and Fenelon, and other 
Protestant and Catholic books on the subject, and 
then fasted, but still did not find it. When I 
sought it earnestly in prayer, by faith I obtained 
it in a few minutes. It was in my eighteenth 
year when I got it, and got great joy, that almost 
killed me at times. 

“ Wesley cried, 1 Salvation by faith , and receiv¬ 
able now 1 ’ One person sanctified, is equal to ten 
conversions. 1 Give me/ he continues, ‘ one hun¬ 
dred sanctified workers, and I will take the world 
for Christ.’ 

“ Seekers of heart purity were invited forward 
by Mr. Harrison, when a large number knelt at 
the chairs and front seats. A melting season of 
prayer and praise followed. A number professed 
to receive the blessing of sanctification. Some 
shouted aloud. A good Quaker sister was among 
the number kneeling for prayer. A brother from 
Mount Vernon Place church arose, and testified 


FAMILIAR TALKS. 


187 


that he had been cleansed while kneeling at the 
mourners* bench. At half past four o’clock the 
doxolojgy was sung, and the benediction pro¬ 
nounced by Dr. Reiley. Mr. Harrison, and a large 
part of the congregation left. There were, how¬ 
ever, some* half-dozen persons who remained kneel¬ 
ing, and a few friends remained also, singing and 
talking with those seekers of heart-purity. What 
was the result ?' Why, the meeting was protracted for 
about one hour longer, and every one kneeling was 
sanctified, including an Episcopalian sister. Two 
converts from Emory church, who have been con¬ 
verted during Mr. Harrison’s meeting, were among 
the number. One had been, converted six weeks, 
the other only four weeks, and both were happily 
sanctified to-day. Some among the faithful and 
zealous Christians of William Street church as¬ 
sisted in carrying on this meeting until the last 
seeker was saved. 

u Mr. Harrison said: 1 The question in many 
hearts here is, How shall I get rid of my sin ? how 
shall I get rid of this inward corruption, — this 
tendency to unbelief and to doubt? While I enjoy 
religion, some are spying, There is something in 
me sorry, — roots of bitterness springing up, 
which trouble me. I pray God to-day, that every 
root of bitterness may be removed from your 
hearts. Determine in your heart by the help of 


188 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


God, and say, I am going to enter within the veil 
to-day; I am going into the inner temple, where 
the high-priest entered only once a year. The 
blood of Christ can heal the diseased soul, and 
cleanse the heart and the mind. There need not 
be a spot left uncleansed. The Apostle speaks of 
a glorious church, cleansed by the blood of Christ 
from every spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. That 
is the kind of cleansing we all may have. 

u * I feel we are going to have a glorious time 
here this afternoon, for at my noonday’s devotion 
to-day, in my closet, I felt wave after wave of God’s 
glory going over my soul. As I pray every day I 
seem to go under the waves of God’s glory. In 
reading the biographies of Bramwell, Fletcher, 
Fenelon, and others, I used to say, Oh, I wish I 
could be like them 1 I wish I had their faith, and 
the faith of the apostles. I coveted Fletcher’s 
trust, and thought if I had it, I would be a power 
to work for souls. Thank God every one of us 
may possess this power. We need the exercise of 
a strong faith. I read in the Scriptures , u that who¬ 
soever shall say to this mountain, Be thou removed, 
and be cast into the sea, it shall be done.” Thank 
God, there is no mountain so high that I cannot go 
over it. There is no obstacle so great across my 
path but I can have it removed out of the way. 
I would rather be a giant than a babe. There are 


FAMILIAR TALKS. 


189 


80 many babes in the church — so many weak ones 
that have to be fed on milk — so many not able to 
endure strong meat. Feeding on the sincere milk 
of the word is good, but I like the honey of sanc¬ 
tification, the honey of sanctifying grace, better. 

“ 1 Some people think God is partial, and say such 
and such a one must be a favorite. Thank God, I 
am a favorite of God; I am one through grace. 
The God of love comes to my soul, and gives me 
power to believe, and I do believe. Some persons 
have weak faith, and some have a strong faith. 
We may all have a Btrong faith—so strong that 
no mountain shall be so great that we may not go 
over, or have it removed. Some Christians are so 
weak and doubting that you may hear them sing: 

“ Oft it causes anxious thought, 

Do I love my Lord or no? 

Am I His, or am I not? ” 

‘“We read of the mighty men of God who did 
mighty works because they had a strong, unwa¬ 
vering faith in God. Some paper in Boston pub¬ 
lished that Harrison’s great success was owing to 
some personal magnetism or physical electricity. 
That was not true. Brother Inskip has it right, 
to-day, in the Standard , when he said it “ was the 
power from on high, the enduement of the Holy 
Ghost.” 

“ * Wesley said, “ Justification held the tendency to 


190 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


sin in check, but sanctification took it all away.” 
Some persons exercise faith, while others do not. 
If I needed a hundred dollars, or was sick, and 
wished to be cured, I would not ask the Lord for 
the hundred dollars, or to be healed without put¬ 
ting a big if in the prayer; but we may ask the 
Lord for clean hearts without putting any if in, for 
the Scripture says, “This is the will of God, even 
your sanctification.” I am going to God to-day, 
that he may put his hand upon me as he did eight 
years ago, when he sanctified my soul; and he has 
never taken his hand off me to this day. Some¬ 
times there has not been that same conscious evi¬ 
dence as at other times ; but I have trusted all the 
while, and to-day I know I am saved. 

“ 1 1 am going to throw away everything to-day, 
and let the Lord possess me whole. You know it 
is important, sometimes, to throw away everything 
to save life. Let us do that to-day, that God may 
take us, and work mightily in us. I read in the 
Acts, to-day, where the Apostle speaks of “ puri¬ 
fying their hearts by faith.” We need an unlim¬ 
ited and an uncompromising faith. We will pray 
for the cleansing, and, as Wesley says, “ let us re¬ 
ceive it in faith, and expect it now.” * 

“A number were forward for prayers, and several 
persons were blessed.” 

This address I found in The Christian Standard , 

Philadelphia. 


FAMILIAR TALKS. 


191 


SEAVILLE CAMP-MEETING, N. J. 

This meeting had been going on some time when 
Mr. Harrison reached the ground. A reporter says: 

II Curiosity and expectation were wrought up to 
a high degree on Friday, looking for the 1 Boy 
Evangelist/ Thomas Harrison. There seemed to 
be almost a general waiting of effort in expecta¬ 
tion of the evangelist’s coming. In the evening 
he arrived. The largest congregation yet of the 
camp was in attendance. Rev. Peter Provost, of 
the court house, gave a forcible address upon the 
subject of 1 The Builders,’ founded upon Matt. vii. 
24-27. Then Mr. Harrison took charge of the 
meeting. 

“ He is a boyish looking person, small in stat¬ 
ure ; large, piercing eyes ; and every movement 
betokens his excessive nervousness. He is twenty- 
six years of age, but looks much younger. With 
a quick, nervous step, he advanced to the edge of 
the platform, and running his fingers through his 
hair, said: 

III Sometimes persons ask me how I can stand 
the strain that is brought upon me, — how I can 
stand the constant travel and labor at all the camp- 
meetings. I answer, Because the people pray for 
me.’ Here he told a story of a minister he met 
in the West, a stranger to him, who said, * Mr. 


192 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


Harrison, I've never met you, but I have been 
praying for you for the last two years/ 1 Then I 
said/ exclaimed Harrison, 1 thank God I can work 
here when even strangers to me are praying for 
me. I want to impress upon you the necessity 
of prayer for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I 
was over at Martha's Vineyard the other Saturday 
night. I began to preach on the text, “ Have faith 
in God." They wouldn't let me talk more than 
eight minutes when there was a tornado. Bishop 
Foster, -who was present, said he had prayed for 
me as never for any one else. Dr. Tiffany, one of 
the most prominent men in our church, came into 
the meeting, and brought an overcoat, as he said 
he expected to stay there all night. We did stay 
there until after midnight, and God greatly blessed 
us. Wonderful power came down. A large num¬ 
ber of men were converted. 

“‘We are going to have a grand time here. A 
great many are going to be converted. I won't 
predict how many are going to be converted, but 
a great many are coming. I declare, it feels more 
like an ice-house here than like a camp-meeting ! 
I have been in six tornadoes this summer. At one 
camp-meeting there were five hundred conversions. 
We commenced by getting down in the valley, 
and stayed there on our knees over an hour. One 
Sunday morning there were ninety-four converted. 


FAMILIAR TALKS. 


193 


This idea of coming to a camp-meeting for a pic¬ 
nic ! You had better stay at home. Or of coming 
here to talk and visit with your neighbors ! You 
had better stay at home. May the Lord send the 
power here. You won’t get it by looking at me. 
I am so tired I can hardly hold my head up. 
Oh, dear Christian friends, pray for me ! God has 
blessed me more at seven camp-meetings, this sum¬ 
mer, than ever before in my life. Now don’t com¬ 
mence to criticise and find fault. It don’t take 
half brains to do that. Don’t begin to say, “ He 
walks too much,” or “ He talks too quick.” I don’t 
care what you say about me. I have as fine a 
home in this world as a reasonable man can wish 
for, and I have as many friends, or more, than any 
preacher in our church.’ Just here he started and 
walked down into the altar, and in a moment or 
two returned to the platform, talking earnestly all 
the while. 

111 The churches around this camp could stand 
an old-fashioned revival. Say amen to that! Let us 
break the ice here. Let us be terribly in earnest. 
0 Lord, give us the power ! Let us not be Epis¬ 
copalians down here at Seaville. We are going to 
have a glory-time, — and before many hours, too. 
We are going to have one of the most glorious 
times we have had in a long time. The old people 
are going to get happy, and the young people are 
13 


194 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


going to get converted. I am laboring under many 
disadvantages to-night. My voice is cracked so 
I can hardly talk. Sing one verse of that grand 
song, u Nearer, my God, to thee .”' During the 
singing Mr. Harrison vehemently ran his fingers 
through his hair, and walked rapidly back and 
forth on the platform, keeping time to the singing. 

“ 1 The atmosphere here is changing. There is 
a turning of the tide. We are going to have a tor¬ 
nado. I believe in the power of the Holy Ghost. 
I think there is an increase of faith here. There 
is coming on us a power such that we cannot resist 
it. At my meeting at Loveland there were trus¬ 
tees and leading men out in the congregation cry¬ 
ing for mercy. Some trustees and leading men 
here ought to cry out for mercy. We need a 
breaking down. During the balance of the camp¬ 
meeting converting power and sanctifying grace 
shall go together/ Here he told a story of hold¬ 
ing a meeting where there was such a crowd that 
orders were given not to admit any one else ex¬ 
cept young men. One fellow, in order to get in, 
said he wanted to^ go to the altar. The officer 
allowed him to go in, but he did not go to the 
altar. The next night another young man came 
with the same request. The officer doubted him, 
but told the young man he would let him go in, 
but he, the policeman, would go in up to the altar 


FAMILIAR TALKS. 


195 


to see if he had told the truth. So they both 
stalked up to the altar, surprising the people, who 
did not know who was going to be arrested. Be¬ 
fore the meeting closed they both knelt at the 
altar. 

“ 1 May God give us the glory. When I came on 
this camp-ground, and saw so many young people, 
I said, “ Lord, bring them in.” How many are anx¬ 
ious for a revival here ? Now, all who want sal¬ 
vation, stand up. There’s one ! there’s another ! 
there’s another ! ’ Here he made a vehement, 
eloquent, touchingly effective prayer; and then, 
after continuing the meeting for about a half-hour, 
the services were brought abruptly to a close amid 
the shouting and singing of the vast congregation.” 



196 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


CHAPTER XV. 

REYIYAL AT MERIDEN, CONN. 

Meriden is quite a flourishing city. It has grown 
rich by its numerous industries. The Methodist 
Church is a very large building, of the latest style, 
with a gallery all round it, and will hold a vast mul¬ 
titude of people. It is one of the best churches in 
the New York East Conference. It is located in a 
very commanding position, and is, I think, the best 
church in the city. 

Immediately after leaving the Scott M. E. Church, 
Philadelphia, having only a single night at his home, 
in Boston, he went directly to Meriden to assist 
Rev. I. J. Lansing. This church had long waited 
for him, and there was a great expectation among 
the people. 

It was a great change for Mr. Harrison to come 
from the fiery furnace of the meetings in the Scott 
M. E. Church to the quiet and cool way of wor¬ 
shipping God in New England. But he has become 
used to these changes, and reckons upon divine 


REVIVAL AT MERIDEN. CONN. 197 

help , which is equal to all emergencies, and to all 
latitudes and temperaments. 

The meetings began at Meriden rather quietly; 
they had not become familiar with the new hymn- 
book, or acquainted with the new man. And it 
was natural to think that some would not like some 
of his peculiar ways. But faith in God was enough 
to overcome all difficulties, and to cast the moun¬ 
tains into the midst of the seas. Some began to seek 
after God, and some were converted. This inspired 
hope for the rest. Courage increased. The church 
began to fill up with people and fervor; converts 
began to multiply, conviction deepened, Christians 
began to feel the burden of soul, having a great 
anxiety for the salvation of others. They began 
to work among their friends, and when I called 
there the next Tuesday evening after the meet¬ 
ings began, I found quite a revival going on, and 
a constant increase of power and victory. That 
night quite a company were converted. Sunday 
was a great day, the pastor preached a powerful 
and searching sermon in the morning, and paved 
the way for the work of God by taking up some 
of the stumbling-blocks. 

In the afternoon Mr. Harrison held an experi¬ 
ence meeting, which was very profitable. In the 
evening that large church was filled solid full, gal¬ 
leries and aisles and vestibule. The power of God 


198 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


was manifest. Mr. Harrison exhorted with much 
energy, and the altar was filled with mourners, and 
twenty-three new names were taken of those that 
had found Christ as their Saviour. 

The interest on Monday night was very great. 
I was delighted to find a young man by my 
side who was unconverted, but was singing the 
new hymns. Mr. Harrison exhorted in his usual 
way, making some stirring remarks upon the hymns 
that were sung, and gave a few of his triumphant 
shouts of “ Glory to God ! ” “ Glory to God ! ” 
whieh sent a thrill all over the church. The 
pastor led in a very earnest and comprehensive 
prayer, and Mr. Harrison followed in a prayer that 
took hold of the arm of God, and the power was 
felt, and the victory was claimed. 

The exhortation of the evening was founded upon 
the text, “ What more could I have done for my 
vineyard that I have not done for it.” What 
more could God do for sinners than to give his Son 
to die, — his Spirit to strive, — his ministers and 
evangelists to preach and plead. The truth was 
pressed home upon the hearts and consciences of 
the people, leaving them without excuse if they 
still stayed away from Christ. The impression 
was deep and lasting. 

The Holy Ghost was present, and quite a com¬ 
pany came to the altar. The young man that sat 


REVIVAL AT MERIDEN, CONN. 199 

by my side during the evening, rose for prayers. 
1 invited him to go with me to the altar. He did 
so; and trusted his soul in the hands of Jesus, 
and found peace. 

As I bowed in the altar, to pray for sinners, a 
lady came and kneeled in front of me. I said to 
her, after a few words of introduction, 11 Close your 
eyes, and follow me in prayer.” She did so; and 
while she was telling Jesus that she was sorry for 
her sins, and asking God to have mercy upon her, 
and to pardon all her sins for Christ’s sake, God 
spoke peace to her soul. She opened her eyes, 
and the smile of heaven was upon her countenance, 
while tears of joy streamed down her cheeks. A 
lady knelt near by, and in a few minutes she fell 
upon the floor, and in a little while after she was 
upon her knees, rejoicing in Jesus her Saviour, 
and praying in solemn earnest for the salvation 
of her friends. Eight or ten were gloriously con¬ 
verted, in the old-fashioned way. Some said this 
was the most powerful meeting of all up to that 
time. It began to feel like the enthusiastic meet¬ 
ings in Philadelphia, and some of the people shout¬ 
ed for joy. The prospect is that hundreds will be 
converted. 

After talking and praying with Mr. Harrison till 
twelve o’clock, I went to the depot to wait for 
the two o’clock, a. m., train for Boston. I found 


200 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


only one man in the depot, and I began to talk to 
him about the salvation of his soul. He said: 

11 1 have had a religious training, and I attended 
the revival meetings at Middletown, Conn.; but 
nobody ever spoke to me about my soul. I am 
engaged in the depot every night, but I have been 
to one of Mr. Harrison’s meetings.” 

u Would you like me to pray for you ? ” 

u I should be happy to have you,” he said. 

Seeing he was so candid and interested, I said: 

“ Come into this little room, and I will pray for 
you.” 

We went into the telegraph office, and he fell 
upon his knees, and followed me in a prayer of 
confession, of repentance, and of faith, and in a few 
minutes he had a message of pardon and adoption 
sent to him from the eternal throne, and he was 
truly a child of God. 

We were not longer upon our knees than it takes 
me to write this story before we arose and rejoiced 
in the God of his salvation. After telling me of 
the mighty change wrought in his soul, he took his 
pen and wrote: 

“ Meriden, December 14, 1880. 

11 1 feel from* this time I will serve the Lord, and 
how glad I am that I met Rev. E. Davies, as he 
has made me feel much better and happy, and God 
has forgiven my sins. W. B. Thomas, 

11 Western Union Telegraph Co.” 


REVIVAL AT MERIDEN, CONN. 


201 


This was as glorious a conversion as I ever saw 
He was calm and in earnest, and was ready to be 
saved, and waiting for some one to help him. It 
was a great blessing to my own soul to think that 
right there, in that office, at 12.30, a. m., we should 
send a message for mercy to the throne of grace, 
and get an answer so quick and so glorious. Hal¬ 
lelujah ! This paid me for all the expense of visit¬ 
ing Meriden. I gave him a letter of introduction 
to Mr. Harrison, and he promised me he would at¬ 
tend the meetings as far as he was able. Hallelujah ! 
Thine the glory. Amen. 

The last night I was at Meriden I met a man who 
had been converted in these meetings. He told 
me that one night a little girl — his sister’s child 
— came to him and invited him to go to the altar 
and seek salvation. Her pleadings prevailed, and 
he went forward, and bowed before God, and gave 
himself to Christ. So the Scriptures are true 
which declare, “ A little child shall lead them.” 

These meetings are rolling on with wonderful 
power. More than two hundred have been con¬ 
verted, and the whole of that large and thriving 
town is shaken by the power of God. 

The following was sent to Zion's Herald by the 
pastor of the Methodist Church, Meriden. 

" Rev. Thomas Harrison came among us to con¬ 
duct a series of revival services, Dec. 3, and haa 


202 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


held services, day and night, for two weeks. The 
church was all ready to work with him. The vis¬ 
ible signs of God’s blessing have been many. Up 
to date one hundred and fifty seekers have been at 
the altar, forty-eight persons have just united with 
the church. The meetings are very largely attend¬ 
ed, often crowded to overflowing. The interest 
has steadily increased. The whole city is moved. 
Billiard-rooms and bar-rooms and theatres are 
suffering loss of patronage, while the church is 
aroused and aggressive, full of faith and power, 
and is looking forward to still greater results. 

“ I. J. Lansing.” 

I find the following in the Meriden Daily 
Republican: 

u THE GREAT AWAKENING. 

“ It rarely falls to the lot of man to see within four 
weeks two hundred and fifty persons so deeply in¬ 
terested in their soul’s welfare as to publicly ask 
forgiveness of God, and prayers from Christians. 
Many ministers toil earnestly all their lives, sowing 
and tending the good seed, who do not see so large 
a harvest. And at the present time the eldest 
workers are saying of the great revival at the 
Methodist church: 1 This exceeds in extent any 
similar work that we ever saw. And, as might 


REVIVAL AT MERIDEN, CONN. 


203 


be supposed in a visitation of God’s Spirit, there 
are such diversities in the meetings, of method and 
feeling, that it would seem as if every heart must 
be touched, and persons of all classes reached. It 
would be unreasonable for any one to say, u I can¬ 
not be convinced and converted in such a meeting 
as that,” when every meeting is so different from 
every other that it is impossible to tell, from night 
to night, what the order and spirit of the hour may 
be. One evening a joyous, triumphant feeling 
predominates; another is a scene of solemnity and 
awe. On last Sunday night, when nearly fifty 
were asking the prayers of the church, there was 
a spirit of personal work and invitation, and every 
Christian seemed free to speak to some one about 
their need of salvation. 

In marked contrast, Monday night was a scene 
of profound conviction, which, towards the close 
of the meeting, became painfully solemn and ear¬ 
nest ; while last night witnessed such tenderness, 
pathos, and melting power, as one rarely sees in a 
lifetime. For half an hour, before the more formal 
services began, Mr. Griswold was teaching the 
congregation new hymns, on whose fresh, sweet 
strains the souls of the people rose to God — in 
prayer and praise, bringing down heavenly bless¬ 
ings. When the preachers came upon the plat¬ 
form, already there was a hush upon the assembly, 


204 


THE BOY PBEACHEK. 


and the feeling that God was in the place. Many 
were saying, “ This is none other than the house 
of God, and the very gate of heaven.” Before the 
prayer was ended, scores were in tears, melted by 
the tender Spirit of God. Mr. Harrison was in full 
harmony with this spirit. His voice and manner 
were subdued, and as he read his text, — “As 
though God did beseech you by us, we pray you 
in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God,” — the 
words fell on many hearts that had not been so 
tender in years. The theme of his exhortation 
was “ Reconciliation; ” and as he illustrated the 
grace of God, and His calling the wanderer home, 
there were suppressed sobs struggling for utter¬ 
ance in many a heart, while many said within them¬ 
selves, u This is God’s call to me.” 

The invitation to rise and come home to God 
was given amid profoundest feeling; and soon 
twelve penitents bowed at the altar in prayer, fol¬ 
lowed later by two others. There was an almost 
audible silence in the room. The hymns of invita¬ 
tions were sung with a subdued sweetness, that 
made them seem like the pleadings of the Spirit 
of God. The prayers were alike tender and tear¬ 
ful, and those who passed about the altar, down 
the aisles, and among the congregation, extending 
a kind invitation, moved noiselessly and with bowed 
heads, as in the presence of God. As those who 


REVIVAL AT MERIDEN, CONN. 


205 


core the precious messages of reconciliation spoke 
one after another, their speech failed them for weep 
ing, and many felt that whoever could resist the 
entreaties of such an hour would be likely never 
to be saved, for an opportunity so gracious, so 
pleading, could not be expected more than once in 
a lifetime. Few, if any, ever saw the like before ; 
few, if any, ever will again. 

It was ten o’clock ere the thought of the lapse 
of time came to the minds of the people; and when, 
at length, they dispersed, many tarried, and some 
declared their purpose to improve the very next 
opportunity to return to God, while they deeply 
regretted that they had lost the one just passed. 
To any who especially enjoy a still meeting, this 
must have been most impressive; while those who 
like the most vigorous and active enthusiasm were 
more than satisfied with the operation of God’s 
Spirit on this ever memorable Tuesday evening. 

God is graciously adapting the manifestations of 
His Spirit to all diversities of mind and tempera¬ 
ment. One who yesterday spoke against the meth¬ 
ods of revival work had nothing to say when it was 
answered: 11 Will you tell us what method would 
lead you to be converted ? If you will, we will 
adopt it at once.” And the calls of this wonderful 
revival are so various and powerful, that those who 
are unmoved must be classed with such as Christ 


206 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


addressed when he said, “Ye will not come unto 
me that ye might have life.” The steady forward 
movement of this most gracious work has not been 
checked for an hour since it began. Every succeed¬ 
ing meeting has elevated the hopes of the church, 
— and added to the number of seekers, — who 
are looking forward to greater things yet to come. 
Watchnight, that most solemn and impressive ser¬ 
vice of the year, will be rich in blessing, and its 
coming is awaited with eager expectation. Many 
devout souls, in all the congregations of the city, 
are praying that the past may be but the beginning 
of the revival. 

This revival at Meriden is going on in wonderful 
power. Up to this date, over three hundred have 
professed conversion, and the good work is spread¬ 
ing all over the city. Mr. Harrison is determined 
not to leave this work till God indicates His ap¬ 
proval. While this book is going through the 
press, many precious and immortal souls will be 
pressing into the kingdom of God at Meriden, born 
of the Spirit, — born from above, — translated out 
of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of 
God’s dear Son. The conversions have averaged 
fifty a week; over eighty young men have joined 
the praying band the past four weeks. “ It is the 
Lord’s doings, and is marvellous in our eyes.” 


THE BROKEN NET. 


207 


CHAPTER XVI. 

SERMON, LETTER, AND CLOSING THOUGHTS. 

This sermon was preached by Dr. Talmage 
while Mr. Harrison was holding meetings in the 
Brooklyn Tabernacle, and is copied from the Chris¬ 
tian Herald. 

THE BROKEN NET; OR, OBJECTIONS TO 
REVIVALS. 

“ They inclosed a great multitude of fishes , and their net 
brake.” Luke v. 6. 

Simon and his comrades had experienced the 
night before what fishermen call u poor luck.” 
Christ steps on board the fishing-smack and tells 
the sailors to pull away from the beach, and 
directs them again to sink the net. Sure enough, 
very soon the net is full of fishes, and the sailors 
begin to haul in. So large a school of fishes was 
taken, that the hardy men begin to look red in the 
face as they pull, and hardly have they begun to 
rejoice at their success, when snap goes a thread 


208 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


of the net, and snap goes another thread, so there 
is danger, not only of losing the fish, but of losing 
the net. 

Without much care as to how much the boat 
tilts, or how much water is splashed on deck, the 
fishermen rush about, gathering up the broken 
meshes of the net. Out yonder there is a ship 
dancing on the wave, and they hail it: u Ship 
ahoy! bear down this way ! ” The ship comes, 
and both boats, both fishing smacks, are filled with 
the floundering treasures. 

u Ah 1 ” says some one, “ how much better it 
would have been if they had stayed on shore, and 
fished with a hook and line, and taken one at a 
time, instead of having this great excitement, and 
the boat almost upset, and the net broken, and 
having to call for help, and getting sopping wet 
with the sea! ” 

The church is the boat, the Gospel is the net, 
society is the sea, and a great revival is a whole 
school brought in at one sweep of the net. I have 
admiration for that man who goes out with a hook 
and line to fish. 1 admire the way he unwinds 
the reel, and adjusts the bait, and drops the hook 
in a quiet place on a still afternoon, and here 
catches one and there one; but I like also a big 
boat, and a large crew, and a net a mile long, and 
swift oars, and stout sails, and a stiff breeze, and 


THE BROKEN NET. 


209 


a great multitude of souls brought — so great a 
multitude that you have to get help to draw it 
ashore, straining the net to the utmost until it 
breaks here and there, letting a few escape, but 
bringing the great multitude into eternal safety. 

In other words, 7 believe in revivals. The great 
work of saving men began with three thousand 
people joining the Church in one day, and it will 
close with forty or a hundred million people saved 
in twenty-four hours when nations shall be born in 
a day. But there are objections to revivals. Peo¬ 
ple are opposed to them because the net might 
get broken, and if by the pressure of souls it does 
not get broken, then they take their own penknives 
and slit the net. “'They inclosed a multitude of 
fishes, and the net brake.” 

1. It is sometimes opposed to revivals of reli¬ 
gion that those who come into the church at such 
times do not hold out; as long as there is a gale 
of blessing, they have their sails up; but as soon 
as strong winds stop blowing, then they drop into 
a dead calm. But what are the facts in the case ? 
In all our churches, the vast majority of the use¬ 
ful people are those who are brought in under 
great awakenings, and they hold out. Who are the 
prominent men in the United States in churches, 
in prayer-meetings, in Sabbath-schools ? For the 
most part they are the products of great awaken¬ 
ings. 


210 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


I have noticed that those who are wrought into 
the Kingdom of God through revivals have more 
persistence and more determination in the Chris¬ 
tian life than those who came in under a low state 
of religion. People born in an ice-house may live, 
but they will never get over the cold they caught 
in the ice-house ! A cannon-ball depends upon 
the impulse with which it starts for how far it shall 
go, and how swiftly; and the greater the revival 
force with which a soul is started, the more far- 
reaching and far-resounding will be the execution. 

2. But it is sometimes objected to revivals that 
there is so much excitement that people mistake 
hysteria for religion. 

We must admit that in every revival of religion 
there is either a suppressed or a demonstrated ex¬ 
citement. Indeed, if a man can go out of a state 
of condemnation, into a state of acceptance with 
God, or see others go, without any agitation of 
soul, he is in an unhealthy, morbid state, and is as 
repulsive and absurd as a man who should boast 
he saw a child snatched out from under a horse’s 
hoofs, and felt no agitation, or saw a man rescued 
from the fourth story of a house on fire, and felt 
no acceleration of the pulses. 

Salvation from sin and death and hell, into life 
and peace and heaven, forever, is such a tremen¬ 
dous thing, that if a man tells me he can look 


THE BROKEN NET. 


211 


on it without any agitation, I doubt his Christi¬ 
anity. The fact is, that sometimes excitement is 
the most important possible thing. In case of 
resuscitation from drowning or freezing, the one 
idea is to excite animation. Before conversion 
we are dead. It is the business of the church to 
revive, arouse, awaken, resuscitate, startle into 
life. Excitement is bad or good according to what 
it makes us do. If it make us do that which is 
bad, it is bad excitement; but if it make us agi¬ 
tated about our eternal welfare, if it make us pray, 
if it make us attend upon Christian service, if it 
make us cry unto God for mercy, then it is a good 
excitement. 

Ifc is sometimes said that during revivals of re¬ 
ligion great multitudes of children and young peo¬ 
ple are brought into the church, and they do not 
know what they are about. It has been my ob¬ 
servation that the earlier people come into the 
Kingdom of God the more useful they are. 

Robert Hall, the prince of Baptist preachers, 
was converted at twelve years of age. It is sup¬ 
posed he knew what he was about. Matthew Hen¬ 
ry, the commentator, who did more than any man 
of his century for increasing the interest in the 
study of the Scriptures, was converted at eleven 
years of age; Isabella Graham, immortal in the 
Christian Church, was converted at ten years of 


212 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


age; Dr. Watts, whose hymns will be sung all 
down the ages, was converted at nine years of 
age; Jonathan Edwards, perhaps the mightiest 
intellect that the American pulpit ever produced, 
was converted at seven years of age; and that 
father and mother take an awful responsibility 
when they tell their child at seven years of age 
“ You are too young to be a Christian,” or, u You 
are too young to connect yourself with the church.” 
That is a mistake as long as eternity. 

If during a revival two persons present them¬ 
selves as candidates for the church, and the one is 
ten years of age and the other is forty years of 
age, I will have more confidence in the profes¬ 
sion of religion of the one of ten years of age 
than the one forty years of age. Why ? The one 
who professes at forty years of age has forty years 
of impulse in the wrong direction to correct, the 
child has only ten years in the wrong direction to 
correct. Four times ten are forty. Four times the 
religious prospect for the lad that comes into the 
kingdom of God and into the church at ten years 
of age than the man of forty. 

I am very apt to look upon revivals as con¬ 
nected with certain men who fostered them. 
People who in this day do not like revivals, never¬ 
theless have not words to express their admira¬ 
tion for the revivalists of the past, for they were 


THE BROKEN NET. 


213 


revivailsts — Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, 
George Whitefield, Fletcher, Griffin, Davies, Os¬ 
borne, Knapp, Nettle ton, and many others whose 
names come to my mind. The strength of their 
intellect and the holiness of their lives make me 
think they would not have had anything to do with 
that which was ephemeral. Oh, it is easy to talk 
against revivals ! 

A man said to Mr. Dawson: “ I like your ser 
mons very much, but the after-meetings I despise. 
When the prayer-meeting begins I always go up 
into the gallery, and look down, and I am dis¬ 
gusted.” “Well,” said Mr. Dawson, “the reason 
is, you go on the top of your neighbor’s house and 
look down his chimney to examine his fire, and of 
course you get only smoke in your eyes. Why 
don’t you come in the door and sit down and 
warm ? ” 

Oh, I am afraid to say anything against revivals 
of religion, or against anything that looks like 
them, because I think it may be a sin against the 
Holy Ghost; and you know the Bible says that a 
sin against the Holy Ghost shall never be forgiven, 
neither in this world nor the world to come. Now, 
if you are a painter, and I speak against your pic¬ 
tures, do I not speak against you ? If you are an 
architect, and I speak against a building you put 
up, do I not speak against you ? If a revival be 


214 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


the work of the Holy Ghost, and I speak against 
that revival, do I not speak against the Holy Ghost? 
And whoso speaketh against the Holy Ghost, says 
the Bible, he shall never be forgiven, neither in 
this world nor in the world to come. I think some¬ 
times people have made a fatal mistake in this 
direction. 

Many of you know the history of Aaron Burr. 
He was one of the most brilliant men of his day. 
I suppose this country never produced a stronger 
intellect. He was capable of doing anything good 
and great for his country, or for the church of 
God, had he been rightly disposed; but his name 
is associated with treason against the United States 
government, which he tried to overthrow, and with 
libertinism and public immorality. 

You know where Aaron Burr started on the 
downward road. It was when he was in college, 
and he became anxious about his soul, and was 
about to put himself under the influences of a re¬ 
vival, and a minister of religion said: “ Don’t go 
there, Aaron; don’t go there. That’s a place of 
wildfire and great excitement; no religion about 
that. Don’t go there.” He tarried away. His 
serious impressions departed. He started on the 
downward road. And who is responsible for his 
ruin for this world, and his everlasting ruin in the 
world to come ? Was it the minister who warned 
him against that revival ? 


THE BROKEN NET. 


215 


When I am speaking of excitement in revivals 
of course I do not mean temporary derangement 
of the nerves ; I do not mean the absurd things of 
which we have read as transpiring sometimes in 
the church of Christ,* but I mean an intelligent, 
intense, all-absorbing agitation of body, mind, and 
soul in the work of spiritual escape and spiritual 
rescue. 

3. Now I come to the real, genuine cause of 
objections to revivals,—that is, the coldness of the 
objector. It is the secret and hidden, but unmis¬ 
takable, cause in every case, — a low state of relig¬ 
ion in the heart. Wide-awake, consecrated, useful 
Christians are never afraid of revivals. It is the 
spiritually dead who are afraid of having their 
sepulchre molested. The chief agents of the devil 
during a great awakening are always unconverted 
professors of religion. As soon as Christ’s work 
begins, they begin to gossip against it, and take a 
pail of water and try to put out this spark of relig¬ 
ious influence ; and they try to put out another 
spark. Do they succeed ? As well, when Chicago 
was on fire, might some one have gone out with a 
garden water-pot, trying to extinguish it. 

The difficulty is, that when a revival begins in 
a church, it begins at so many points, that while 
you have doused one anxious soul with a pail of 
cold water there are five hundred other anxious 


216 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


souls on fire. Ob, how much better it would be tc 
lay hold of the chariot of Christ’s gospel, and help 
pull it on, rather than to fling ourselves in front 
of the wheels, trying to block their progress. We 
will not stop the chariot, but we ourselves will be 
ground to powder. 

Did you ever hear that there was a convention 
once held among the icebergs in the Arctic? It 
seems that the summer was coming on, and the 
sun was getting hotter and hotter, and there was 
danger that the whole ice-field would break up 
and flow away; so the tallest and the coldest and 
the broadest of all the icebergs, the very king of 
the Arctics, stood at the head of the convention, 
and with a gavel of ice smote on a table of ice, 
calling the convention to order. But the sun kept 
growing in intensity of heat, and the south wind 
blew stronger and stronger, and soon all the ice¬ 
fields began to grind up, iceberg against iceberg, 
and to flow away. The first resolution passed by 
the convention was, “ Resolved, That we abolish 
the sun.” But the sun would not be abolished. 
The heat of the sun grew greater and greater, until 
after a while the very king of the icebergs began 
to perspire under the glow, and the smaller ice 
bergs fell over, and the cry was: “ Too much ex 
citement! Order ! order ! ” Then the whole body, 
the whole field of ice, began to flow out, and a 


THE BROKEN NET. 


217 


thousand voices began to ask: li Where are we 
going to now? Where are we floating to? We 
will all break to pieces.” By this time the ice¬ 
bergs had reached the Gulf Stream, and they were 
melted into the bosom of the Atlantic Ocean. The 
warm sun is the eternal Spirit; the icebergs are 
frigid Christians ; the warm Gulf Stream is a great 
revival. The ocean into which everything melted 
is the great, wide heart of the pardoning and sym¬ 
pathizing God. 

4. But I think, after all, the greatest obstacle 
to revivals throughout Christendom to-day is an 
unconverted ministry. We must believe that the 
vast majority of those who officiate at sacred altars 
are regenerated; but I suppose there may float 
into the ministry, of all the denominations of Chris¬ 
tians, men whose hearts have never been changed 
by the grace of God. Of course, they are all antag¬ 
onistic to revivals. 

How did they get into the ministry ? Perhaps 
some of them chose it as a respectable profession; 
perhaps some chose it as a means of livelihood; 
perhaps some of them were sincere, but mistaken. 
As Thomas Chalmers said he had been many years 
preaching the gospel before his heart had been 
changed, and as many ministers of the gospel de¬ 
clare they were preaching and had been ordained 
to sacred orders years and years before their heart? 


218 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


were regenerated. Gracious God, what a sofemn 
thought for those of us who minister at the altar ! 
With the present ministry in the present temper¬ 
ature of piety, this land will never be enveloped 
with revivals. While the pews on one side the altar 
cry for mercy, the pulpits on the other side the altar 
must cry for mercy. Ministers quarrelling! minis¬ 
ters trying to pull each other down; ministers strug¬ 
gling for ecclesiastical place ! ministers lethargic 
with whole congregations dying on their hands ! 
What a spectacle ! 

Aroused pulpits will make aroused pews. Pul¬ 
pits aflame will make pews aflame. Everybody 
believes in a revival in trade; everybody likes a 
revival in literature ; everybody likes a revival in 
art; yet a great multitude cannot understand a 
revival in matters of religion. Depend upon it, 
where you find a man antagonistic to revivals, 
whether he be in pulpit or pew, he needs to be 
regenerated by the grace of God. 

I could prove to a demonstration that without 
levivals this world will never be converted; and 
that in a hundred or two hundred years, without 
revivals, Christianity will be practically extinct. It 
is a matter of astounding arithmetic. In each of our 
modern generations there are at least thirty-two 
million children. Now add thirty-two million to 
the worlds population, and then have only one or 


THE BllOKEN NET. 


219 


two hundred thousand converted every year, and 
how long before the world will be saved ? Never 
—absolutely never! 

During our war the President of the United 
States made proclamation for seventy-five thou¬ 
sand troops. Some of you remember the big stir. 
But the King of the Universe to-day asks for eight 
hundred million more troops than are enlisted, and 
we want it done softly, imperceptibly, gently, no 
excitement, one by one 1 

You are a dry-goods merchant on a large scale, 
and I am a merchant on a small scale, and I come 
to you and want to buy a thousand yards of cloth. 
Do you say : “ Thank you ; I’ll sell you a thousand 
yards of cloth; but I’ll sell you twenty yards to¬ 
day, and twenty to-morrow, and twenty the next 
day, and if it takes me six months I’ll sell you the 
whole thousand yards. You will want as long as 
that to examine the goods, and I’ll want as long as 
that to examine the credit. And besides that, a 
thousand yards of cloth are too much to sell all at 
Dnce? ” No, you do not say that. You take me 
into the counting-room, and in ten minutes the 
whole transaction is consummated. The fact is, 
we cannot afford to be fools in anything but re¬ 
ligion ! 

That very merchant who on Saturday afternoon 
sold me the thousand yards of cloth at one stroke. 


220 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


the next Sabbath in church will stroke his beard 
and wonder whether it would not be better for a 
thousand souls to come straggling along for ten 
years, instead of bolting in at one service. 

We talk a good deal about the good times that 
are coming, and about the world’s redemption. 
How long before they will come ? There is a man 
who says five hundred years. Here is a man who 
says two hundred years. Here is some one more 
confident who says in fifty years. What, fifty 
years ? Do you propose to let two generations 
pass off the stage before the world is converted? 

Suppose by some extra prolongation of human 
life, at the end of the next fifty years, you should 
walk from Fulton Ferry to South Bushwick, and 
from Hunter’s Point to Gowanus, and from the Bat¬ 
tery, New York, to Central Park — in all those 
walks you would not find one person that you rec¬ 
ognize. Why ? All dead, or so changed you 
would not know them. In other words, if you 
postpone the redemption of this world for fifty 
years, you admit that the majority of the two 
whole generations shall go off the stage unblessed 
and unsaved. I tell you the church of Jesus 
Christ cannot consent to it. We must pray and 
toil and have the revival spirit, and we must 
struggle to have the whole world saved before the 
men and women now in middle life part. 


THE BROKEN NET. 


221 


11 Oh ! ” you say, u it is too vast an enterprise to 
oe conducted in so short a time.” Do you know 
how long it would take to save the whole world if 
each man would bring another? It would taki 
ten years. By a calculation in compound interest 
each man bringing another, and that one another, 
and that one another, in ten years the whole earth 
would be saved —1890. Before this organ is worn 
out, it ought to sound the grand march of the 
whole earth saved. If the world is not saved in 
the next ten years, it will be the fault of the 
Church of Christ. 

Is it too much to expect each one to bring one ? 
Some of us must bring more than one, for some 
will not do their duty. I want to bring ten thou¬ 
sand souls. I should be ashamed to meet my God 
in judgment, if, with all my opportunities of com¬ 
mending Christ to the people, I could not bring 
ten thousand souls. But it will all depend upon 
the revival spirit. The hook and line fishing will 
not do it. 

It seems to me as if God is preparing the world 
for some quick and universal movement. A cele¬ 
brated electrician gave me a telegraph chart of 
the world. On that chart the wires crossing the 
continents and the cables under the sea looked 
like veins red with blood. On that chart I see 
that the headquarters of the lightnings are in 


222 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


Great Britain and the United States. In London 
and New York the lightnings are stabled, waiting 
to be harnessed for some quick dispatch. That 
shows you that the telegraph is in the possession of 
Christianity. 

It is a significant fact that the man who invented 
the telegraph was an old-fashioned Christian — 
Professor Morse; and that the man who put the 
telegraph under the sea was an old-fashioned 
Christian—Cyrus W. Field; and that the presi¬ 
dent of the most famous of the telegraph com¬ 
panies of this country was an old fashioned Chris¬ 
ten— William Orton, going from the communion 
table on earth straight to his home in heaven. 
What does all that mean ? 

I do not suppose that the telegraph was invented 
merely to let us know whether flour is up or down; 
or which filly won the race at the Derby; or which 
marksman beat at Dollymount. I suppose the 
telegraph was invented and built to call the world 
to God. 

In some of the attributes of the Lord we seem 
to share on a small scale. For instance, in his 
love and in his kindness. But until of late, fore¬ 
knowledge, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipo¬ 
tence, seem to have been exclusively God’s pos¬ 
session. God desiring to make the race like him¬ 
self, gives us a species of foreknowledge in the 


THE BROKEN NET. 


223 


weather probabilities, gives us a species of omnis¬ 
cience in telegraphy, gives us a species of omni¬ 
presence in the telephone, gives us a species of 
omnipotence in the steam power. Discoveries and 
inventions all around about us, people are asking 
what next ? 

What next? I will tell you what next. Next, a 
stupendous religious movement. Next, the end 
of war. Next, the crash of despotisms. Next, the 
world’s expurgation. Next, the Christ-like do¬ 
minion. Next, the judgment. What becomes of 
the world after that I care not. It will have suf¬ 
fered and achieved enough for one world. Lay it 
up in the dry docks of eternity, like an old man-of- 
war gone out of service. Or, fit it up like a Con¬ 
stellation to carry bread of relief to some othei 
suffering planet. Or, let it be demolished. Fare¬ 
well , dear old world } that began with Paradise and 
ended with judgment conflagration. 

Last summer I stood on the Isle of Wight, and 
I had pointed out to me the place where the Eury- 
dice sank with two or three hundred young men 
who were in training for the British Navy. You 
remember when that training-ship went down 
there was a thrill of horror all over the world. 
Within the past few weeks there is another train¬ 
ing-ship missing — the Atalanta — gone down, we 
fear, with all on board. By order of Her Majesty’s 


224 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


government, vessels are now cruising up and down 
the Atlantic trying to find that lost training-ship, 
in which there were so many young men preparing 
for the British Navy. Alas for the lost Atalanta I 

Oh, my friends, this world is only a training- 
ship. On it we are training for heaven. The old 
ship sails up and down the ocean of immensity, — 
now through the dark wave of the midnight, now 
through the golden-crested wave of the morn, — 
but sails on and sails on. After a while her work 
will be done, and the inhabitants of heaven will 
look out and find a world missing. The cry will 
be: “ Where is that earth where Christ died and 
the human race were emancipated ? Send out 
fleets of angels to find the missing craft.” Let 
them sail up and down, cruise up and down the 
ocean of eternity, and they will catch not one 
glimpse of her mountain-masts, or her top-gallants 
of floating cloud. Gone down ! The training-ship 
of a world perished in the last tornado. 

Oh ! let it not be that she goes down with all on 
board, but rather may it be said of her passengers 
as it was said of the drenched passengers of the 
Alexandrian corn-ship that crashed into the break¬ 
ers of Melita: “ They all escaped safe to land.” 


LETTER FROM REV. W. DOWNS. 


225 


This letter is found in Zion’s Herald of May 24, 
1877: 

LETTER FROM REV. W. DOWNS. 

“ It would be impossible, in the brief space 
allowed me, to give anything like a full or detailed 
sketch of this most remarkable work of God in our 
section of the city. So far, over one thousand souls 
have been converted to God in the churches. Eight 
hundred of these are the fruits of the meeting at 
Union Square, where my family worship. About 
four hundred and fifty have joined the church on 
probation, — the church where they have been 
converted, — and seem much in earnest in working 
out their salvation. As far as ascertained, over 
two hundred have joined other charges. 

“ I have been more or less familiar with revivals 
for more than a quarter of a century ; but in pun¬ 
gency of conviction, thoroughness of conversions, 
and numbers, this is the most wonderful work I 
have ever seen or known. Baltimore, for more 
than thirty years, if ever, has not witnessed such 
a display of God’s saving power, extended to all 
denominations and classes of the community, even 
to 1 the chiefest of sinners.’ Persons of the Bap¬ 
tist, and Presbyterian faith, Episcopalians, and 
even Catholics, have been saved at our altars. 

‘‘And such conversions ! Ward politicians, gam¬ 
blers, drunkards, and profane swearers, have also 


226 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


come to the fountain, and had their sins washed 
away. Different clubs have been broken up by 
the conversion of their officers and members, 
and the club-room furniture sold, and the proceeds 
appropriated to good uses. Drinking-saloons have 
come to grief. Three in the immediate neighbor¬ 
hood have been compelled to close up for want of 
customers. Many who once patronized them now 
go to church and to class-meetings, and there give 
the money they formerly paid for intoxicating 
drink. Men accompany their families to the house 
of worship, who formerly congregated in the as¬ 
semblies of the wicked; and lips that were once 
used to profanity, now sing the songs of Zion, and 
tell the wonders of Immanuel, while wives and 
children rejoice that they live to see this day. 

“ One marked feature of this work is the number 
of men converted to God— young men, single 
and married men, and some advanced in life. 
While the work has not passed by the Sunday- 
school, and the younger portion of the congrega¬ 
tion, it has more especially claimed as its subjects 
the adult part of the community, many of whom 
did not attend church, and who seemed beyond all 
hope of being reached and saved. 

“Any one doubting, who may have attended these 
meetings, can no longer question the utility of 
altar work. I have seen as many as fifty penitents 


LETTER FROM REV. W. DOWNS. 


22 ' 


a night, kneeling at the altar, and witnessed as 
many as twenty conversions at a single meeting. 
And persons have been converted at their homes. 
Men have been saved in their workshops, while 
others have had to quit their places of business, 
to attend to the interest of their souls. 1 Stand 
ye in the ways, and see and ask for the old paths, 
where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye 
shall find rest for your souls/ The congregations, 
at night especially, have been immense, almost to 
suffocation. But still, sinners would press their 
way through to the place of prayer. Persons have 
gone before sunset in order to secure seats; and 
for a long time it was necessary to issue tickets to 
the penitents, to secure their admission. 

“Frequently, before the invitation was given, per¬ 
sons would rush forward to the altar, and begin to 
plead for mercy. Scarcely ever was there a trifler 
present; the vast congregations have been as 
silent as though at the judgment, and the work 
has been the freest from extravagances that I have 
ever seen. A great many marked instances of 
God’s saving power might be given, but I forbear. 
Truly 1 This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvel 
lous in our eyes 1 ; 

“ Mr. Harrison is unpretentious, of a nervous 
temperament, yet remarkably self-possessed, and 
intensely in earnest. I have never as yet heard 


228 


THE BOf PREACHER. 


him attempt to preach, or expound God’s Word. 
It is difficult, on philosophical grounds, to under¬ 
stand the secrets of his power. 1 Ye shall receive 
power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon 
you.’ His youthful appearance and consecration 
to God, his earnest exhortations, and pleadings, 
and mighty faith, together with his personal so¬ 
licitations in the congregation and elsewhere, 
exercise a potent influence upon the crowds that 
flock from all parts to hear him. Surely God 
must be with him. ‘ Not by might, nor by power, 
but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.’ 

“ Milford Downs, 

11 Presiding Elder of W. Baltimore District. 

“ Baltimore, May 15, 1877.” 

This letter did much to open the way for Mr. 
Harrison into the churches, and brought him many 
invitations from all parts of the country. 

LETTER FROM DR. S. F. UPHAM. 

u At the session of the Providence Conference, 
held in Norwich, Conn., in April, 1871, a young 
man, of very youthful appearance, was entertained 
in the same hospitable home in which I was stay¬ 
ing. He was visiting the conference, and getting 
acquainted with the preachers. 

“ This was Thomas Harrison. I was then fully 


LETTER FROM E. S. UPHAM. 


229 


convinced that God had called him to service in 
his church. His transparency of character and 
fervent piety were then conspicuous. One morn¬ 
ing— Mr. Harrison having led in the family devo¬ 
tion and offered a prayer of great simplicity and 
power — an aged minister who was present said: 
* That boy has a future, and the church will hear 
from him yet.’ { That boy 1 has been heard from, 
and thousands now in the church will forever bless 
God for his evangelistic labors. 

“ Mr. Harrison has been specially called to his 
work. He is simply an evangelist. He has not 
the gift of eloquence, nor the culture of the 
schools, but he has — what so many evangelists 
lack — genuine common sense, and a sanctified 
zeal. His methods are somewhat novel, and cer¬ 
tainly original. They do not always, at first, im¬ 
press the people as wise, but when sinners, weep¬ 
ing and willing, flock to the altar, all thoughts 
about methods are forgotten. God is with him , — 
and the records of 1 the Great Day 1 will alone 
reveal the wonderful results of his labors. 

“ It was a happy thought of Rev. E. Davies to 
gather up and put in this permanent form some of 
the wonderful facts in the life and labors of this 
honored servant of God. The world ought to 
know that the preaching of the simple, old-fash¬ 
ioned gospel is still effectual. Infidelity has no 


230 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


argument in which to meet the fact of a trans¬ 
formed life. Greater than any physical miracles 
are such works of grace — ‘ the greater works ’ 
which Jesus promised should be done by his 
church, because of his exaltation. 

“ S. F. Upham. 

“Boston, January 1, 1881.” 

Dr. Upham is well known in the church as one 
of our ablest ministers and pastors, and he is just 
elected Professor of Practical Theology in the 
Drew Theological Seminary, New Jersey, for 
which he is pre-eminently qualified. 


THE GREAT REVIVAL IN INDIANAPOLIS. 231 


CHAPTER XVII. 

THE GREAT REVIVAL IN INDIANAPOLIS. 

From the glorious revival in Meriden, Conn., 
where eight hundred and fifty were hopefully con¬ 
verted, Mr. Harrison went to Roberts Park 
Church, Indianapolis, and commenced his services 
March 28th, 1881. The first night he proph¬ 
esied that God would give him one thousand 
souls in that church ; that the whole chy would 
be shaken. This seemed strange to many; skeptics 
sneered, but faith in God was implicit, and the 
victory sure. He wrote to me, saying: “ The 
meetings are progressing with interest. This is a 
very wicked city, but God’s power knows no 
limits.’' 

God honors all the faith we exercise in him. 

“ Faith, mighty Faith, the promise sees, 

And looks to that alone, 

Laughs at impossibilities 
And cries, ‘ It shall be done.’ ” 

In eighteen days after the meetings began, Mr. 
Harrison wrote me: “ I am now enjoying another 


232 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


glorious victory, two hundred conversions, and the 
church crowded to its utmost capacity. The en¬ 
tire city shaken with the greatest awakening dur¬ 
ing the past fifty years. Glory to God for this re¬ 
markable revival.” 

The wonderful work went mightily onward, 
from conquering to conquer, till in five weeks five 
hundred and twenty-two persons professed to be 
converted. Two thousand crowded the church, 
and hundreds went away for want of standing- 
room. 

Deep conviction pervaded the penitents, and 
this led to genuine conversions. With seventy- 
five or eighty forward for prayers, “ There was 
little noise, and no confusion. Many whole fam¬ 
ilies were converted.” 

The entire city felt the shock of this moral 
earthquake. Fifteen of the churches started re¬ 
vival services. Dr. Talmage from Brooklyn vis¬ 
ited the city about this time and preached with 
great power for Mr. Harrison, and also in the 
Presbyterian Church, in which about two hun¬ 
dred had been converted. 

When asked if the converts were faithful that 
joined his church when Mr. Harrison was there, 
he replied: “Of the six hundred and fifty-six 
that joined my church at that time to my knowl¬ 
edge, not one of them has backslidden. Besides, 


THE GREAT REVIVAL IN INDIANAPOLIS. 233 


these converts made some of the best workers in 
the late revival, in which more than three hundred 
professed conversion and joined the church.’’ 

The following is one of Mr. Harrison’s sermons 
or talks in this revival: — 

John iii. 16, will be found the bright side of the Gospel 
and the cheery side of redemption. The Prophet Jeremiah 
tells us how to find God, but John tells us how God comes 
to us. I love John, for he was a sort of favorite with Jesus, 
and I have sometimes thought that some Christians were 
more favorites with God than others, including myself, 
when the truth was they lived nearer to God and were in 
constant communion with Him. John had a wonderful power 
in love for Jesus. He was one of the three on the Mountain 
of Transfiguration. He was at the last supper, where Jesus 
leaned his head on John’s bosom. He took Jesus’ mother 
home with him from Calvary. Indeed, John and Jesus 
were knit together, and after the Saviour came forth from 
the sepulchre John was the first to cry out, “It is He; 
I know it. That’s my Christ.” Oh, that disciple Jesus 
loved, and it is proper that I should read in your ears the 
sweetest passage in all the Scriptures. You who have been 
on a steamer in the black darkness out on the sea will re¬ 
collect the first flash of light from a beacon which cheered 
every heart. Well, dear friends, John has given you a 
beacon of light, mercy, love, and free grace, and while you 
are rocking to and fro on the billows of time, he has come 
to you with a beacon-light, and I want to read it to you for 
your good to-night; for there are three glimmering rays, 
pardon, mercy, and free grace. “ God so loved the world 
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” 

In this picture John has colored your destiny with a lively 
hope, and given you also the shadow and the sombre hue. 


234 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


John, that embodiment of love, makes the declaration the 
epitome of human salvation. That word perish, in the 
text, is the dark phase or background, for he evidently be¬ 
lieved there would be some who would not believe and who 
would perish, for in his day, as in the present, there were 
those of indifferent faith who pretended to believe that if 
God intended that men should go to hell they would go 
there, and if to Heaven it would be all right anyway. It 
puts me in mind of a lazy, indolent young man who kept 
his hands in his pocket and consoled himself that if the Lord 
wanted him to have a place to work, he would get it, and if 
He didn’t, it would be all right, for this world owed him a 
living. Oh, what an argument in the presence of an Om¬ 
nipotent Jehovah! You are saying “The Lord will save me 
if He wants to.” No, He won’t, for you must believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. How many have believed 
in this wrong way, and He sent the thunderbolts of His 
Divine wrath and they went down to perdition. Now, John 
had the very look of love, and his every step was that of 
sympathy. He puts in the word perish that you might be 
saved and have everlasting life, and oh! I pray God that your 
soul may be saved to-night. A man takes medicine to make 
him well. I reach down to rescue a man from drowning, 
but if he declines to reach up and take my hand, he will 
perish. A poor man, if he succeeds in business by toiling 
and frugality and tact, he does well; but if he fails in these 
qualifications, he will always be a pauper. Now, John puts 
in a condition, “ Whomsoever believeth on Him might not 
perish.” On your streets there is crape on the door-knobs 
continually. Men and women are dying, dying, and the 
blackness of death is everywhere to be seen. You take up 
the lily, and while you hold it it fades, and droops, and 
dies. Such is life here on earth, but the Bible says in 
Jesus you have everlasting life, for John says, “ God so 
loved the world,” etc. The prophet brought home a baby 
to its mother and said that a mother forgets her suckling 


THE GREAT REVIVAL IN INDIANAPOLIS. 235 


child; but John declares that God never forgets you, and if 
you only believe on His Son and are saved, you will have 
everlasting life. There will be no perishing with you if you 
are only among the “ whomsoever will.” We are going to 
have a tremendous wave of God’s power here to-night, — 
a great time in the conversion of sinners, for I am here to 
declare this night “ whomsoever will.” You must meet the 
condition, — give up all and accept this dear love spoken of 
by John. I much prefer the sunny side of Calvary and 
the bright promises of the Gospels to the thunderings of 
Sinai. Don’t you? God grant you may come to Jesus and 
be saved. Oh, carry in your hearts that John has said 
there are some who will not come to Christ that they might 
not perish and have everlasting life, but are determined to 
go down to perdition, Get saved to-night. Accept the dear 
Saviour and all will be well. The congregation rose to 
their feet, and while singing, “ Come, ye sinners, poor and 
needy,” sixty-seven came to the altar, and nineteen were 
happily converted. We never saw brighter and clearer 
evidences in all our life, and such was the testimony of 
other old veterans under the banner of Christ. 

The following items were given to the press, 
and were published in the secular papers of the 
country: — 

Rousing Religious Revival —Wonderful Success of 
the Boy Evangelist in Indianapolis. 

Indianapolis, Ind., June 13, 1881. 

Eleven weeks ago to-night the boy-preacher evangelist. 
Rev. Thomas Harrison, began a revival in Roberts Park 
Church (Methodist), this city. The first night he predicted 
that over one thousand conversions would be made; that all 


236 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


the churches would be thrown open, and that the city would 
be stirred in every part. The larger churches have been 
crowded to their utmost capacity; and many have been 
unable to gain admittance. At a meeting of the ministerial 
association this morning the total number of conversions 
is reported as about two thousand two hundred. In Roberts 
Park the number of conversions is said to be one thousand 
and eighty-nine, and hundreds are unable to gain admittance 
to the meetings. Sixteen churches are now open for revival 
work. The use of all the theatres has been tendered for 
Sunday services. 

This speaks for itself, a»d as it came from a 
meeting of the ministerial association, we may re¬ 
gard it as official, and it is indeed wonderful and 
glorious. Can any living person remember to 
have seen or read of such mighty results? On¬ 
ward, onward swept this tide of salvation till 
June 29th, when there was appointed 

THE ALL-DAY JUBILEE MEETING, 

which commenced with an early service at 5.80 
A.M., when about one thousand persons wended 
their way to this church, notwithstanding the in¬ 
tense heat. It is impossible to describe the scene 
of so many saints exulting in God for this almost 
unparalleled work of grace. 

In the 10 o’clock meeting, a number of minis¬ 
ters expressed their joy. Rev. Mr. Hyde, a lead¬ 
ing minister of the Congregational church, said he 
had lived in the city more than twenty years, but 


THE GREAT REVIVAL IN INDIANAPOLIS. 237 


never saw the city so stirred as now. “ It has 
reached all the churches and congregations of the 
city. It has given us more confidence in the 
power of the gospel, and its adaptation to the 
spiritual wants of mankind. I never saw a relig¬ 
ious movement that encountered so little opposi¬ 
tion. I am convinced that the gospel of Christ 
always carries the conscience of men.” 

Rev. Mr. Curtiss said, “ I have looked forward 
to this day with much pleasure and anxiety. This 
revival has proved the wonderful power of grand 
and glorious singing. It has demonstrated also 
that the contribution-box can go right alongside of 
the work of grace in the human heart. It has 
been absolutely demonstrated that money poured 
into the treasury of the Lord, during a revival, 
does not kill it. Then we have been raised, as a 
city, a number of degrees in religious experi¬ 
ence. God grant that we may not settle down 
from our present position. Then we have seen 
the entire change that religion has wrought in 
some men. May God give us more of these tre¬ 
mendous conversions. Then I have been im¬ 
pressed with the marvellous manner of the spirit’s 
manifestations. We ignore this divine spirit too 
frequently. It is an overwhelming influence. The 
influence of this work has reached to distant parts 
of the country.” 


238 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


Rev. Mr. Morey expressed his sympathy with 
the whole movement, and said that hereafter 
Christians of different names will be bound to¬ 
gether by nearer ties than ever before. 

Rev. Dr. Talbut said, “ This has been a won¬ 
derful revival in its effects upon so many homes 
and hearts that have been made glad. It has 
seemed as though the Christian church in this city 
could not hold up its head in the presence of the 
great opposition that it met. But Brother Harri¬ 
son, under God, has been sent to us; and our faith 
was united, and now the churches are stronger 
than ever. Many of us thought that the time for 
old-fashioned revivals had gone by, but this meet¬ 
ing has changed our ideas, and we see that God is 
just as he was on the day. of Pentecost, and that he 
honors faith just as he honored it then. It has 
been a great thing to have this fully demonstrated 
once more.” 

Some came six hundred miles to attend this 
meeting; the newspapers spread the glorious tid¬ 
ings far and wide, and multitudes came to the 
meeting to be converted. 

The afternoon and evening meetings of this 
jubilee day were just such seasons of power and 
glory as might be expected after such a moral cy¬ 
clone has swept the moral miasmas far away, 
Many found peace this day in believing, and God 


THE GREAT REVIVAL IN INDIANAPOLIS. 239 

was greatly glorified, and the whole city exalted 
in joy. Heaven and earth were made glad. 

This revival took a practical turn, and many 
churches made successful efforts to pay off their 
church debts. 

It is estimated that the Presbyterian churches 
of Indianapolis will receive five hundred members 
as their share of this heavenly revival. 

So great was the attendance at Roberts Park 
Church, that one writer says five thousand persons 
were refused admission on a single night. 

So mightily did salvation fill that city, that “ con¬ 
versions occurred in cellars, prayers were offered 
and souls were saved in the street cars. Ministers 
who had been preaching for years added new ten¬ 
derness, a new pathos, and a new power to their 
teachings.” 

Thus, all classes of people were brought to 
Christ. “ It was a veritable wave of blessing ; the 
brooding power of God’s love. 1 ' History must 
record it as one of the most, if not the most re¬ 
markable outpourings of the spirit in the annals of 
the church. Its power lifted and shook the States . 
— God and his angels can alone gather up the 
fragments and number the hosts that partook of 
his feast.” 


240 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


The following is a thrilling statement of this 
mighty revival, as given by the pastor, Rev. S. M. 
Vernon, D. D.: — 

THE ROBERTS PARK REVIVAL 

In midsummer, on the very last day of June, such a 
revival as was never known in the city has prevailed in 
Indianapolis. For twenty weeks,—the last thirteen of which 
the Rev. Thomas Harrison was with us,—the voice of prayer, 
song and exhortation, has risen as constantly as the evening 
shades have fallen, with evident tokens of the divine favors 
from the first. Roberts Park Church has been famous 
throughout its history as the aggressive revival church of 
Indiana, though its reputation in this respect has suffered 
the past few years. Since the erection of its new stone 
church, many who believed that there was nothing incom¬ 
patible between elegance and revival of religion, continued 
praying with the old-time fervor and faith, and they have 
received more than the old-time answer. The revival has 
been the theme of conversation everywhere—on the streets, 
in the cars, in the stores, and in all social gatherings; while 
the children in the streets, the workmen in the shops and men 
upon the highway, filled the air with the revival songs, till 
there seemed to be almost one continued service night and 
day. Men coming to the city on business have said that as 
soon as their feet touched the street they felt the presence 
of something unusual, and that business transactions were 
always interlarded with conversation about the revival and 
religion. It broke through the cold reserve of Episcopa¬ 
lians, the cautious prudence of Presbyterians, and the scoff¬ 
ing indifference of skeptics ; it penetrated to the lowest 
strata, and swept like a contagion through the higher 
grades of society; it interested the frivolous, arrested the 
wayward and prodigal, and confounded the boastful philoso¬ 
pher ; it won the hostile by the sweetness of its spirit, dis- 


THE GREAT REVIVAL IN INDIANAPOLIS. 241 


armed critics by its beneficent results and convinced skep¬ 
tics by its evident displays of divine power ; it gave the 
church a joy it has never known, rescued a vast number of 
souls and enveloped the city in the atmosphere of heaven, 
for a time at least. The light rose so high, that, for a hun¬ 
dred miles around, hearts were gladdened by it. People 
came from the towns and cities of the State to be converted, 
and went home to establish family religion and to begin the 
good work in their own communities. Often was this done 
with as much deliberation and definiteness as though they 
were coming to one of our wholesale houses for a bill of 
goods. Every outgoing train carried sparks to the dry 
stubble of other localities, and every incoming train brought 
new fuel to the flame. Visitors came five and six hundred 
miles to see, study, absorb, and, if possible, transplant the 
spirit of this great work. Letters and telegrams from 
Boston, San Francisco, and every part of the country, 
indicated that the work was not confined to Indiana. 

Statistics give but little idea of the real life of anything, 
and yet, dry as they are, they may here help as walking- 
sticks for our imaginations. In Roberts Park Church alone 
more than two thousand persons expressed a desire for sal¬ 
vation, and the names and residences of twelve hundred 
and sixteen persons, who, having knelt at the altar, were 
allowed to remain there, some of them for thirty nights, 
till, in good old Methodist style, they were able to say, not 
“ for another,” nor “ by another,” but “ for themselves,” that 
they were converted. After some weeks the work forced 
itself into other churches, the people in some cases compel¬ 
ling the ministers to begin services, and nearly as many 
more were converted in the various churches. It is es¬ 
timated that six thousand people in some way gave express- 
ionto a desire for a better life during the progress of the 
work. 

The character of the work, while marred by some defects, 
as all church work is on the human side, was remarkable 


242 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


for the simplicity of its methods, the intense earnestness of 
its pure evangelical spirit, the depth and pungency of con¬ 
viction from sin, the clearness and often the quickness of 
conversion, and the absence of extravagant demonstrations 
or utterances in the meetings. The public testimonies and the 
changed lives of the converts have silenced all questionings 
and proved the genuineness and thoroughness of the work. 
Ministers of various denominations have attended the 
meetings and have pronounced the work to be of the 
Holy Spirit. There has been no effort to make the way 
easy, to go around hard places, or to usurp the office of 
the Holy Spirit by persuading people that they were con¬ 
verted. Public, open confession by kneeling at the altar, 
prayer and struggle of soul till the witness of the Spirit 
was given, have been the line of work through all these 
weeks of wonderful victory. For many nights together 
there was an average of two thousand people in the 
church, one hundred at the altar, and thirty conversions, 
more people being turned away than were able to get into 
the church. The fruits of this revival falling in showers 
from our branches have been eagerly gathered up by other 
workers as well as our own, who kindly came to our help 
at our invitation, lest from the abundance something should 
be lost. The various Methodist churches have shared 
largely, Roberts Park alone receiving four hundred and 
thirty members, and next in order the Presbyterians have 
profited by the revival. The First Church has received 
about thirty, the Second about one hundred and fifty, the 
Memorial one hundred, and two or three others forty or 
fifty members each. A great stimulus has been given to 
church life in general, showing itself in many ways, 
specially, just now, in a movement all along the line 
against a number of old, musty church debts, that have 
for years threatened the very existence of several churches. 
Grace and Ames Methodist churches have paid their 
debts, Roberts Park is well on the way with an effort 


THE GREAT REVIVAL IN INDIANAPOLIS. 243 


to pay off its $30,000 debt, while Meridian and California 
street are both working in the same direction, with good 
hope of success. A revival that pays off church debts has 
in it something of the power that brought Lazarus from the 
tomb. 

Mr. Harrison is a very effective laborer, with strong per¬ 
sonal characteristics bordering on eccentricity. They grow 
out of his child-like simplicity, singleness of aim, and dis¬ 
regard of all conventionalisms, an'* are not specially offen¬ 
sive to a truly refined nature. There is nothing rough, 
coarse, or clownish about him. His exhortations are 
simple, direct, earnest, taking, and delivered with full 
faith that the people will, of course, at once heed and 
obey his summons. He is Methodistic in experience, 
doctrine, and practice, carrying in his own person the 
fervor and fire of fifty years ago in connection with the refine¬ 
ments of the present. All classes came under his influence 
here. A number of infidels 1 enounced their skepticism, and 
were converted, others who had not been inside of a church 
for years are now happy in the joys of faith ; whole families 
were converted and young men who were a grief and a 
shame to their parents were converted. 


244 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

mr. Harrison’s religious experience. 

Mr. Harrison takes one evening in his meetings 
in different places, to relate his thrilling experience 
in detail, and multitudes that hear it desire to see 
it in print, and multitudes more that never heard 
it are anxious to find out how this wonderful man 
has been blest and empowered of God , for his life- 
work. One evening, in the Roberts Park Church 
Mr. Harrison told his experience as follows: In 
hurrying through my experience to-night, I shall 
speak of four points: My awakening, conver¬ 
sion, the baptism of fire, and the full assur¬ 
ance of faith. And as the foundation of my ex¬ 
perience I will take a text of scripture: “ By 

grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not 
of yourselves ; it is the gift of God.” Eph. ii. 8. 

The Bible speaks of some Christians whose experience is 
like a morning without a cloud. For some years of my 
early life my own experience in a temporal way was like a 
morning without a cloud. I had everything to make me 
happy, and all my plans were for enjoyment. One summer 


MR. HARRISON'S RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. 24.1 


morning I said to myself, “ Now 1 am going to have a bet¬ 
ter time than ever I had before in my life;” and I formed 
my plans to spend ten weeks in Nova Scotia, and I bade 
farewell to father and mother and my brother, whom I loved 
better than life. And away I went full of hope and joy; but 
soon there came a time when I heard the thunders of God’s 
wrath breaking over my head, and He brought me down to 
the very edge of Death’s cold stream, where the loved one 
had gone over and I saw him no more. A message came; 
I broke the seal. Written on the inside were only three 
words: “ Freddy is dead.” Then I bowed myself down 

before God’s judgments and cried to God to save me, that I 
might meet him again, and that was all I asked. That was 
one means that God took to awaken my soul — that was one 
line — and the other was my godly mother’s prayers. Every 
morning she would have us close the doors after my father 
had gone early to business, and take her Bible and pray 
such a prayer as only mothers ever pray for their children. 
Sometimes I would get up when she was done praying, and 
hurry away lest she should see my tears. I would steal 
away to my room, and try to find relief. I bore a heart- 
aching on account of my brother’s death and a spirit dis¬ 
tressed because of my mother’s prayers for me, until one 
time she seemed to pray longer and more earnestly than I 
had ever heard her before, and besought God for the sal¬ 
vation of her son, and cried, “ O Lord, how long! how long! 
how long! ” I thought I should die. I tried to study; I 
could not. I tried to work; I could not talk; I could not do 
anything. I cried, *• Lord Jesus, this darkness is too ter¬ 
rible; I cannot bear it; let one ray of light from the In 
finite come down to my poor soul and show me the way.” It 
was watch-night. My mother had gone to the meeting. I 
got up and left my home; went into the street with an ach¬ 
ing heart at 11.45. I went out into the darkness and the 
snow-storm, and prayed that while God’s snows were float¬ 
ing down from the heavens, God might send down from the 


246 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


depths of infinite mercy some little hope to my poor spirit. 
In five minutes I came to the lamp-post close by where the 
watch-meeting was, and heard them singing the Covenant 
hymn, my mother’s voice blending with the rest; and as I 
stood there it seemed to me that the voice of God came to 
me as clearly as ever I heard the voice of my mother, say¬ 
ing to me; “ Son, give Me thy heart.” I said to God: Lord, 
excuse me just now; let me only go home; I can’t get down 
here in the snow and cry for mercy; the snow will blind me, 
and the wind will pierce me through — let me go home and 
get where it is warm, and I will give Thee my heart.” Then 
there came to me a voice, louder by far than the loudest 
blasts of that December night. “ Now or never.” I believe. 
Dr. Vernon, as much as I believe I am standing in this 
church to-night, that if I had crossed the line that was just 
before me at that moment, and resisted God’s spirit, he 
would never, never have come to me again and I should 
have been lost. The Bible speaks of the voice of God as 
being still. It was not that way with me. It was like the 
thunders of eternity. “ Now or never.” I heard it as I 
would hear my mother’s voice. I stood there and heard the 
old village clock strike six times. I knew full well that 
within the church the followers of Jesus were covenanting 
for holy living for the time to come. The clock was strik¬ 
ing ; I heard that voice saying in thunder-tones to my heart 
— in tones that pierced my very soul — “ Before the tongue 
of that bell shall strike the last stroke, you must be saved or 
lost!” “My God,” I cried, “can’t I have a little time? 
Can’t I be saved a moment later? ” Again came that voice 
from the depths of the infinite, “Now or never!” and it 
seemed to me now that just about the tenth stroke of that 
bell God Himself, from the depths of His unspeakable mercy, 
stretched forth His Almighty arm and interposed, and said: 
“ I will hold back the stroke of the bell while for one min¬ 
ute you look to me.” It seemed to me a very long time 
between those two strokes of that bell, and, thank God, 


MR. HARRISON*S RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. 247 


before the eleventh stroke rang out on the air, the pent-up 
feelings of my poor heart broke forth in one strong cry, 
“Now!” and the two “nows 11 came together, God’s spirit 
answering to my own in an instant, and T found myself 
saved — redeemed! It was all right in the twinkling of an 
eye. I met the conditions — God blessed me. I came up 
to the requirements — God showered down blessings. For 
four years his infinite mercy had been trying to kiss my 
poor soul — His loving arms reaching out to embrace me; 
but I would not let Him. But at last, all of a sudden, I ex¬ 
tended my arms toward Him; I turned the lips of my soul 
toward His infinite love, and in a moment He kissed all my 
trouble away, all my sorrow, all my grief away. I did not 
think I was converted; I knew it. In the day God gave 
me the marvellous enjoyment of His presence and His 
love, and He gave me “ songs in the night.” 

But the time came when I felt something more was 
needed. I felt that there was something vastly higher, 
greater, richer, than anything that I then knew anything 
about. My mother, quiet and retiring, had made no public 
profession of sanctification; there was no need of it; her 
life was enough. But I felt this great need in my heart, 
and I went into a Methodist book store, and I said : “ Give 
me • Fletcher’s Plain Account’; give me ‘ Carvosso’; give 
me ‘Bramwell’; give me ‘Lady Huntington’; give me 
‘Madame Guyon’; — a Roman Catholic, but one who had 
said ‘ I received it at noon-day in my sitting-room by faith ’ 
— without the aid of priest, bishop, or archbishop —‘ by 
faith ’ — give me ‘ Fenelon 1 — the mightiest Catholic that 
ever lived, who lived so near God’s throne that he shook 
Rome to the centre, and when he died the people kissed the 
very chairs in which he sat while living.” With all these 
books under my arm I started home, and well I might. 
Then I read the books and I read God’s Word, and I cried 
day and night that I might have the baptism of the Holy 
Ghost. But as the children of Israel by their own un- 


248 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


belief were kept wandering about in the wilderness for forty 
years, when they might as well have gone into the Promised 
Land in as many days, so I was in the wilderness of doubt 
and uncertainty two long years without experiencing the 
fulness of God’s love, whereas I ought not to have been 
without it that many hours. Why was this ? Because I was 
unwilling to trust to Jesus — to look to Him without an ‘ if.’ 
I was not ready to say: “ I will have the blessing of a clean 
heart. I will have full salvation. God has promised it and 
it shall be mine.” There was the trouble. Wesley says 
that a member of one of his congregations received this 
wonderful baptism of the spirit within five hours after 
conversion. He says you may receive it right along with 
the pardon of your sins, if you will. I did not so receive it, 
and this night, before God and men, I bow my head in 
shame and confess to Him and to you that in my inmost 
soul I am sorry that I stayed away, distrusting Christ, but 
studying books, studying the Bible and doing everything I 
could but the one thing that would have brought the bless¬ 
ing to my poor heart. 

But, thank God, the time came when I reached a point 
where I said : “ Now, I have been seeking this anointing of 
grace, this baptism of fear, so long that I must have it or 
die. I will enjoy this cleansing in the blood of the Lamb 
or die.” I had become as desperate as some have been at 
this altar. I said: “ Now I will lay the books all aside, and 
this one afternoon shall be all knee-work.” I went into the 
mountain where no voice could reach me, and no eye could 
see me, and no ear could hear me but God’s, and I got 
down on my knees to pray, and pray as the Fathers of 
Methodism used to pray, to struggle long and mightily with 
God for the blessing. I had made my mind up to pray that 
way, but I didn’t do it; for I had not been but a little while 
on my knees before God flashed upon my mind and through 
every avenue of my soul the truth that there was a better 
way than long and hard struggling with God for his bless- 


mr. Harrison’s religious experience. 249 

ing upon the human soul. I got upon my knees and first I 
had a talk with my knees themselves I said to them: 
“ Now, you may as well come right down to it; if you must 
ache, ache; and if you must break, break; for I am not go¬ 
ing to get up till God gives me tlie victory.” I looked at 
my watch. I said: “ If I don’t get the blessing before the 
academy bell rings, I will stay here till morning.” Now, 
just as sure as God is love, whenever Christians get des¬ 
perately in earnest with God, something is going to happen, 
and that something is sure to be victory and cheer and 
blessing. How long did I kneel? Thirty minutes, think 
you? No. Ten minutes? Never. Five minutes? Not 
at all. No, thank God. I wanted to see how long it had 
been before God heard and answered me; and out came my 
watch at the end of three minutes, and I jumped to my feet 
with a shout that must have made the birds in the tree-tops 
start from their nests in alarm. “ Glory to God! I’ve got 
it! I’ve got it! ” And it never has left me for a moment 
It was the Baptism of Fire received by Faith. 

I now come to the most important part of my experience, 
so far as relates to the results of my ministry. The question 
has been discussed in preachers’ meetings; it has been mys¬ 
ticism to worldlings and sinners, and sometimes even to 
believers, — the full assurance of faith and its results. “ How 
is it, Mr. Harrison, that everywhere your labors are crowned 
with such overwhelming success? If you could preach like 
Dr. Vernon, it might be attributed to the powerful preach¬ 
ing, but sometimes you don’t even exhort at all, and yet 
you seem to draw people by a power that is magnetic. 
Where is the secret? How is it that in June weather, with 
the mercury up to ninety, two thousand or three thousand 
people crowd the church, and hundreds stand outside the 
door begging for admittance? Why is it that for thirteen 
weeks one of the largest churches in Methodism is packed 
from pulpit to vestibule, week after week? How is it that 
Presbyterian, Baptist, Episcopalian, and Christian churches 


250 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


all catch the heavenly spark, and the whole city and State 
are aglow with the glory of God’s saving power? ” 

I will tell you I will make it plain to everybody. “ The 
full assurance of faith.” I was a student at Dr. Talmage’s 
Lay College in Brooklyn, and in his family seeking for prep¬ 
aration for some work of usefulness. I did not know 
where. I concluded I would go and see an old friend at 
Long Plains. I told my mother I would be back early 
Monday morning. This was Friday night. I intended to 
be back on Monday, but you shall see how God led me. I 
reached my destination. On meeting my friend at Long 
Plains, he said to me, using the old college name: “ Harry, 
anticipating your coming, I have sent out circulars for 
eight miles around, that to-morrow afternoon at three 
o’clock, and at night, you are to hold revival meetings.” 
I said to him: “My dear friend, what possesses you?” 
They were as cold as death in my church in Boston, had 
had no revivals for years; even I was not converted at their 
altar, but in a snow-bank. I said to my friend: “ You have 
made a mistake. I do not know anything about revivals.” 
I only knew what I enjoyed in my own heart. Said he: 
“ Harry, it’s out.” Said I: “ Well, let us go to your room 
and pray over it.” We went to his room and prayed. He 
prayed and I prayed, and when the time came, I went into 
the pulpit and took a text and preached, and had a good 
time myself whether the people had or not; and at the con¬ 
clusion of the meeting they came crowding around and 
shook hands with me, and I felt happy. About five o’clock, 
after supper was over, my friend said to me: “Harry, I 
want to pray.” “So do I,” I said, “ Let us go into your 
room, by the fire, and pray together.” “ No,” said he, I 
want to go behind the church into the woods and pray 
there. Father or mother or the children might come in and 
interrupt us in my room.” So we went out through the 
snow into the woods behind the church, and we came to a 
tree that held its foliage all the winter through, and there 


mr. Harrison’s religious experience. 251 


was a green spot under it where there was no snow, and we 
knelt there and prayed. He prayed and I prayed for about 
twenty or thirty minutes, till we got all enthused with faith 
and zeal for God, and it came to be more like July than 
December, for we had got ourselves warm inside and hot 
outside. My friend rose up with his face shining with a 
great victory, and the tears of joy rolling down his cheeks, 
and he said to me: “ Harry, we are going to have a great 
revival to-night.” I stood still and looked at him a moment, 
and I said: “ My friend, what is the matter with you,— talk¬ 
ing about a revival? What do you mean?” Said he: “I mean 
just what I say; we are going to have a great revival to¬ 
night.” Said I: “ What makes you think that?” Then I 
saw the light; then I realized the blessing; then I compre¬ 
hended the power; then I saw God as I had never seen him 
before. I saw the fulness of power, the power of the Holy 
Ghost that God can give to those who believe. Here is the 
secret of the power that God has given me, and which has 
led, under God, to the salvation of more than seventeen 
thousand souls. Said I: “ Why do you think that? ” And 
the answer was: “/ have asked God , and I believe him." I 
grasped his hand in mine; I put his arm in mine; my soul 
met his; my faith kissed his. “Amen!” My heart’s de¬ 
sire met his. “Amen!” I said: “I see it; I see it; glory 
to God.” I nearly lost my strength under the weight of 
glory that filled my soul when I saw the willingness of God, 
the ability of God, and the present power of God to give the 
blessing. I received the “ full assurance of faith ” under the 
power of God in that boy, who said to me: “Harry, 1 have 
asked God , and I believe him" Heaven help all the people 
here to get on that line to-night. Your churches would all 
be all aflame with the power of God. 

It will not do to ask of God, and limit him by our lack of 
faith in his answers to prayer. Oh, put away the milk of 
the word, and stand up in the full measure of manhood and 
womanhood in Christ Jesus, and say, as that boy said to me: 
“ I have asked God , and 1 believe him." 


252 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


I entered the pulpit that night. The church was packed 
from the chancel to the entry ! Curiosity was on tiptoe, to 
see what such a boy would say. I opened the old hymn 
book ; I was very happy. I said, “We will sing to¬ 
night a hymn expressive somewhat of my own feelings, 
and I will line it for you, as some may not have books. If 
you prefer sitting you can do so, but I hope everybody will 
sing with me.” The organ played the tune, and, as God led 
me, I commenced with the first line, “ O, for a thousand—” 
I stopped. I said, “ I will read the hymn. O, for a thousand 

—.” I tried it again. “O, for a-.” I did not go as 

far as I did before. If I had kept on a little longer I would 
only have been able to say “ O ! ” I was then, as now, as 
nervous as a man can be and live. I was not so careful as 
ten years 1 of experience has made me. I did then what I 
would not do now I never said a word to the minister, but 
got right down and out over the altar-rail and went straight 
to a young man who was crying as if his heart would break, 
and whispered in his ear and said to him, “ My dear friend, 
if you must cry please cry to yourself—cry so that I will 
not hear you—I would like to read my hymn,” but he did 
what the man did in the Scriptures, when the Disciples told 
him to be still, “ he cried so much the more.” I went back 
and again commenced to read the hymn, but had not uttered 
two words till I heard back by the third window a strange 
noise, and I said I must see to that, sure. I started and 
went back there and found a large, stout man crying like a 
baby. Said I : “My friend, excuse me, but I would like to 
be able to read my hymn. If you have to cry, please cry 
quietly.” But, just like the other man, he cried all the 
more. About that time I got back to the altar-rail, when 
I saw a young lady sobbing, sobbing, sobbing. I got half 
way to her and stopped and said to myself : “ You must be 
careful here ; it is a lady.” I took another look at her, 
and I said to myself: “ Oh ! what is this P ” Her face 
was very pale, her dress black, her bonnet black with white 


mr. Harrison’s religious experience. 253 


inside. I said : “ I’ll not go to you ; I will let you cry.” I 
went back to the pulpit and I said : ** I cannot read my 
hymn while you are sobbing that way. If you have to cry, 
please cry quietly.” But when a man is crying to God for 
mercy you can’t stop him. You might as well try to stop a 
stream of water with your hands. They cried only more and 
more. I thought to myself. “ Well, here I am in a pretty 
situation to be sure. I haven’t got a chance to make my ex¬ 
hortation, or read my hymn, or even take up the collection. 
What shall I do ? Why are all these people sobbing and 
crying ?” I made up my mind to find out. I went first to the 
young man of nineteen who had been crying by the window, 
and said: “ What are you crying for? Nothing has been sail 
to cause you to cry.” He said : “ O, I wish I was a Chris¬ 
tian.” I went then to the man down by the third window 
and he said to me : “I wish I was saved.” I said I would 
go to that lady who was crying so, and I went and asked 
her : “What are you crying for?” Said she : “Oh, Mr. 
Harrison, I am in great trouble. My mother died a few 
weeks ago, and I so wish I was prepared to meet her.” I 
went into the pulpit and asked the minister what I should 
do, Said he, “I don’t know. Brother Harrison, but pray do 
something quick.” 

I looked at the four or five seats alongside the pulpit and 
said, “ These seats will be vacated, and I am going to have 
a word of prayer with those who may wish to seek God ; ” 
and in an instant, from the first pew to the door, they bowed 
their heads, and sobs and groans almost shook the church. 
I said, “If any here desire to be helped by faith and 
prayer, come and kneel,” and every seat was packed in two 
minutes. I said, “ clear these front seats.” They filled the 
two front pews in less than three minutes. Then I said: 
“ If you want to be saved kneel right where you are,” and 
they fell to the ground all over the church, and that night, 
from 6.30 to 11 o’clock, God shook that place, and instead 
of my going home on Monday, I have not been home since 


254 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


to stay. I stayed there twenty-nine nights, and God saved 
nearly the whole town. 

“/ have asked God , and I believe Him" There is the secret 
of power. There is “ mesmerism.” Take it. There is 
“ electricity.” Get it. There is the power to throw a 
“spell” over a congregation and make them do what you 
will. You may have it. Men say they don’t understand 
me, and can’t understand me; that I have a magnetic power 
in my body. They tell “ stories,” every one of them. It is 
faith in God! It is faith in God! I want the reporters who 
are here to-night to put it down in big letters and under¬ 
score it. I want it to go out from Indianapolis to this State, 
and all other States, that the real secret of power at these 
revivals—the foundation, the superstructure and the crown¬ 
ing point of all is— faith in God! “ I have asked God , and 1 
believe Him" Since that hour God has given me seventeen 
thousand souls as the reward-answer of faith. 

It is Pauline, Scriptural Methodism to the last letter. 
Have faith in God, and you can unlock the treasure-house 
of God’s glory and have all you want. Have faith in God, 
and you can get hold of the Eternal Throne. May God give 
the members of this Church, the converts and sinners, faith 
in God this night. 

I close now, throwing out the assurance to every one 
here, and hoping that it will go all over the State and all 
over the United States, that the secret of the success of these 
meetings is faith in God. Let everybody say, amen! 


REVIVAL IN SAN FRANCISCO. 


255 


CHAPTER XIX. 

REVIVAL IN SAN FRANCISCO AND CINCINNATI. 

Three months after Mr. Harrison left Indian¬ 
apolis the revival still* continued. The churches 
were tilled to overflowing, and five thousand were 
added to the churches. Nearly a year after I 
found, by report, that "The majority of the 
churches were still having large accessions and 
conversions. The general religious feeling was 
much more intense than it was a year before. 
Only five of the two hundred and thirty-two pro¬ 
bationers in Roberts’ Park Church were found 
unworthy of membership. Glory to God for this 
blessed fact! This shows that the conversions 
were genuine. We reach the same conclusion 
when we find that ninety-seven per cent, of the 
probationers at Meriden were counted worthy to 
join the church.” 

In the fall of 1881 Mr. Harrison spent six 
weeks in Howard Street Church, San Francisco, 
Dr. F. F. Jewell, pastor. There was a vast 
multitude to welcome the Evangelist on Sabbath 
morning, Oct. 9. Hundreds were unable to find 
standing-room in the evening. Satan and his 


256 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


hosts were present, and an opposition amounting 
almost to persecution was soon developed among 
the rabble of the city. Some of the meetings were 
shamefully disturbed. Some of the daily papers 
cried out against the work. One minister said, 
"Mr. Harrison’s power is preternatural.” Yet sin¬ 
ners were constantly converted, and four hundred 
bowed before God. This fiery trial and glorious 
triumph were to prepare the young Evangelist for 

THE MIGHTY WORK OF GOD AT CINCINNATI. 

After returning from the Pacific Coast and 
making a short visit to his lovely home in Boston, 
he proceeded to Cincinnati, Ohio, and commenced 
revival services in St. Paul’s Church, Jan. 11, 
1882, Rev. Dr. Isaac W. Joyce, pastor. 

This city has been long noted as a stronghold 
of infidelity, Sabbath-breaking, and drunkenness. 
Three thousand saloons have been kept open 
almost day and night, Sunday and all. Sin had 
waxed so dominant that the churches had hardly 
been able to hold on their way, and leading mem¬ 
bers had been heavily taxed to sustain the cause 
of Christ. The best pastors of the city had put 
forth their earnest efforts to check the rapid and 
alarming growth of worldliness and dissipation. 
Attendance upon church worship was chiefly con¬ 
fined to church members. Noted evangelists have 


REVIVAL IN CINCINNATI. 


257 


frequently been urged to come and labor in this 

city, but have declined. Here Robert Ingersoll 

has had his most enthusiastic admirers and his 

largest congregations. Rationalism, Romanism, 

and Rum have had their stronghold here. 

© 

Many good people have thought that it was 
impossible to have any extensive revival in this 
city. In 1832-33 Bishop Thomas A. Morris 
was preacher in charge, with George W. Walker 
and David Whitcomb as his colleagues. There 
was associated with these three, as an evangelist, 
for some time, the Rev. John Newland Maffit, 
whose fervid eloquence drew vast congregations, 
and under whose tremendous appeals the multi¬ 
tudes were swayed as a forest when played upon 
by a tempest. In about five months there were 
six hundred conversions, and eight hundred addi¬ 
tions to the church. 

No extensive revivals have been known in this 
city since then till the one that we now record. 
For a long time Dr. Joyce had to wait the coming 
of Mr. Harrison. It was decided that all the 
ministers and Christian workers should sustain the 
evangelist in every possible manner, and thus 
break through the ranks of the enemy. Public 
interest was soon awakened. Daily reports of 
the meetings were published in the papers of the 
city. The Western Christian Advocate devoted 


258 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


three or four columns to reports of these times 
of refresh ing . Bi shop Wi ley gave the meetings his 
entire influence, and soon his own lovely daughter 
was most powerfully converted, and fell into his 
arms overwhelmed with the salvation of God. 

St. Paul’s Church, where the meetings were 
held, is one of the largest and most wealthy 
churches of the city, yet it was packed from night 
to night, till hundreds had to go away for want of 
standing-room. Great solemnity and deep feeling 
pervaded the meetings. The conversions were 
> clear and joyous. Sometimes the converts would 
almost leap for joy. In a little more than two 
weeks there were three hundred and forty-one 
seekers at the altar, and two hundred and seven¬ 
teen gave their names as truly converted. This 
did not include those that were converted in the 
pews, or at their homes, as the result of his 
meetings. " Several of the Methodist pastors were 
compelled to commence revival services in their 
own churches. This was so in other denomi¬ 
nations of the city.” 

The pastor of St. Paul’s, Dr. Joyce, is a 
princely man, of great mental and spiritual ability. 
A magnificent preacher, declaring the whole coun¬ 
sel of God. His exhortations are mighty, and his 
Sunday morning sermons were most powerful. 
Never did a pastor render more efficient help to an 


REVIVAL IN CINCINNATI. 


259 


evangelist than Dr. Joyce did to Mr. Harrison. 
Many sinners were swayed by his eloquent ap¬ 
peals. The Wesleyan Female College was espe¬ 
cially favored in having so many of its students 
converted. So great was the interest that one 
Friday they had to suspend the regular exercises 
of the college, and inquiry meetings were held 
during the day. All but two of the twenty-two 
in the graduating class were either converted or 
were seeking religion. Who can tell the marvel¬ 
lous results of so many conversions among this 
interesting class. 

The meetings were held at 3, 7, and 7.45 P. M. 
The afternoon meeting was especially for the 
anointing of ministers and Christian workers, and 
to gather reports from the pastors. 

There was a great variety among the converts, 
including the infidel of about sixty years. A 
mother and eight children were converted. A num¬ 
ber of Catholics were saved. One Catholic Lady 
came to the church out of curiosity. She was dis¬ 
pleased and left the church, but some invisible 
and mysterious power compelled her to return the 
same night, and the next night she was converted, 
and soon after joined the church. Bishop Warren 
attended this meeting one evening, and gave a 
thrilling account of it, declaring this revival to be 
the Lord’s doings, and marvellous in his eyes. 


260 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


" One pound of talent, backed by ten pounds of 
energy, will accomplish more than ten pounds 
of talent backed by one pound of energy. And if 
all the preachers would go to work, and trust more 
in God than in fine sermons, there would be no 
lack of revivals, and souls would be saved.” This 
is exactly true of Mr. Harrison. His one pound 
of talent is backed by ten pounds of energy, and 
accompanied with an unwavering faith; this gives 
him unparalleled success. 

While this glorious meeting was going on Bishop 
Foster, at the Social Union in Boston, said, "The 
great revival at Cincinnati is by an instrument 
feeble, but mighty through God, who has shaken 
that city, dead with seven deaths, to its foundation. 
A thousand souls have been converted in these 
six weeks, all the churches are on fire, and* the 
most careful and exemplary judges regard the 
work as sound and thorough.” 

The Boston preachers’ meeting sent Brother 
Harrison a flaming telegram, which was read to 
that vast audience the night I was there, when the 
last fifteen of the first thousand were saved. 
What a heavenly jubilee we did have that night! 
The atmosphere of that great church was charged 
with the life and power of God. Ministers and 
church-members, young and old, were all on fire 
with the glory of God, and shouts and shaking 


REVIVAL IN CINCINNATI. 


261 


hands and giving glory to God were all in perfect 
order, while angelic hosts were exulting in the 
triumph. Oh, it was glorious ! On and on this 
heavenly victory went till thirteen hundred and 
seventy-three professed conversion at the altar, 
and a large number professed the blessing of entire 
sanctification. Some came hundreds of miles to 
attend these meetings and get converted, so that 
sixteen States were represented. Dr. Joyce says 
that many of the converts were already members 
of the churches. This shows the sad state of things 
when these meetings began. 

A volume might be written on this revival. But 
it will take eternity to tell the good that was done. 
The old-fashioned gospel, according to Methodism, 
has taken a new departure, and thousands of 
Methodist pastors have taken a new inspiration 
from this great triumph of truth. Allelujah! 
The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. "Mr. Har¬ 
rison must be accepted by the church as a divine 
agent for putting into effective operation truth 
already held by her people, but powerless without 
the superadded energy of the Holy Ghost.” 


CHAPTER XX. 


REVIVALS IN DECATUR, DANVILLE, AND ROCK¬ 
FORD, ILL. 

It is a perfect wonder to earth and heaven that 
Mr. Harrison still goes on from conquering to 
conquer. Besides his labor in camp-meetings in 
summer, he continues to see thousands of souls 
converted in the different cities that he labors in. 


JUBILEE AT DECATUR OVER TWO THOUSAND CONVERTS. 

April 10, 1883, was the greatest day that this city 
ever saw. Just think of two thousand souls born into 
the kingdom of God ! Week after week this mighty 
work has rolled on. The people came from Missouri, 
Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Indiana, and Michigan, on 
purpose to attend this revival and to get converted, so 
that it was estimated that eight hundred of the converts 
were from different parts of the country ; and they re¬ 
turned to their homes to scatter the holy fire. Over 
thirteen States were represented in this revival. There 
was a great regularity in this work; for, while there 
was no great break down at any one time, there never 
was a day without conversions. In the judgment of 
those best acquainted, the real number was much 
larger than the numbers reported at the altar. 

The jubilee began with nine hundred persons present 
at a love-feast at 5.30 a.m. Three hundred and thirty- 
five persons spoke in fifty minutes. They were testi¬ 
monies of conscious adoption and of peace and joy in 
the Holy Ghost. At 10.30, Dr. Hatfield preached on 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


263 


“The Immunities and Privileges of Christ’s People,” 
text, I Cor. iii. 22. It was plain, practical, forcible, 
rich in Bible illustrations. Dr. Joyce preached at 2.30 
on “ The Conditions of the Jubilee,” text, I John v. 4 : 
“This is the victory that overcometh the world, even 
our faith.” He carried the audience with him, and 
told many incidents of Mr. Harrison’s revival in Cin¬ 
cinnati, and testified that at least ninety per cent, of 
the converts remained faithful. I rejoice to know that 
this is the general testimony as to the permanency of 
Mr. Harrison’s work in the churches. This may be 
expected when we consider the following testimony of 
Rev. R. N. Davies, Presiding Elder of the Decatur 
District: — 


u As to the doctrines preached by Mr. Harrison, they are 
purely biblical, the same in substance, plainness, and power 
as those preached by Wesley and the early Methodist preach¬ 
ers. The vicarious death of Christ, the radical nature and 
the necessity of the new birth, justification by faith onty, 
the witness of the Spirit, a future general judgment, and 
eudless punishment, have been steadily, plainly, andjorcibly 
insisted upon. No mere profession of a willingness to be¬ 
lieve in Christ, or of a resolution to serve him, has been 
accepted as an evidence of conversion. Under the preach¬ 
ing, exhortation, and prayers of Brother Harrison, the con¬ 
viction of the penitents has been deep and pungent, as evi¬ 
denced by their tears, cries, groans, sobs, and agonizing 
prayers. Many were so powerfully convicted as to fail 
where they stood, unable to come to the altar. Brother 
Harrison has taught the seekers to look for a clear, unmis¬ 
takable witness of the Spirit to the fact of their conversion, 
and not to be satisfied without it. The conversions unde; 
Brother Harrison’s ministry have the clear, happy ring ox 
the old Methodist altar work. The doctrine of Christian 
perfection, as it is found in the Bible, as it was taught by the 
Wesleys and by Fletcher, as exemplified in their lives, and 
as exemplified in the lives of Bramwell,Carvosso, and Hester 
Ann Rogers, is preached by him in great simplicity, power, 
and efficiency. Discouraging all extravagances and fanatl 
cisrn, he successfully leads many to purity of heart and ol 
life. Brother Harrison is in hearty sympathy with all of the 
old time-honored usages of Methodism; the altar of prayer 
and the class-meeting receive his hearty support.” 


264 


REVIVALS IN ILLINOIS 


REVIVAL AT DANVILLE, ILL. 

Mr. Harrison began in Danville, Ill., in the early 
part of October, 1888. For a few days, there was 
a trial of faith, but soon the tidal wave of power set 
" in, and all through the meetings there was constant 
victory, so that, in one day and evening, as many as 
seventy came forward for prayers, crying for mercy. 

The meetings were held in the Kimbur Methodist Church. 
Mr. Harrison, with his peculiar methods and burning zeal , 
grew in favor with the people till the end. Convictions were 
deep and pungent , the conversions were clear and strong. 
Nov. 21 there was a Jubilee Service of over one thousand 
seekers that had bowed at the altar during the six weeks of 
the meetings. 

REVIVAL AT ROCKFORD, ILL. 

This glorious revival began in the Centennial M. E. 
Church, in the last week of November, 1888. God so 
moved the city that, at the close of the third week, 
there had been four hundred and ninety-seven seekers 
and three hundred and ninety-five conversions. 

One Friday afternoon, Mr. Harrison spoke on “ The Bap¬ 
tism of Fire.” He showed the character of the work of this 
baptism. In the language of Rev. John Fletcher, “This 
person will be as simple as a child, and as gentle as a dove; 
bold as a lion for Jesus; as patient as an ox under trial; as 
wise as a serpent, but without the poison; a man gentle., 
sweet , loving , and humble .” 

Sometimes two thousand people would fail to find entrance 
into the church, while seventy-nine came to the altar at one 
time. The revival flame set the whole city in a blaze. Souls 
were converted in all parts of the city. "At the close of the 
eighth week, more than nine hundred and fifty had been at 
the altar in Mr. Harrison’s meetings alone. 

A Jubilee Meeting was held one Friday over one thousand 
souls that had started for the kingdom. A love-feast was 
held at 9.30. Dr. A. C. George, of Chicago, preached at 
10.30, and Bishop Merrill at 2.30. Mr. Harrison preached in 
the evening, and the interest was greater than ever. On Sun¬ 
day evening, the house was crowded an hour before the time. 
Services began early, and the altar work was commenced at 
seven o’clock, and nearly forty w r ere converted that night. 

Mr. Harrison is now laboring in Dr. Tudor's church, St. 
Louis, where 300 sought the Lord in the first two weeks. 


REVIVALS IN NEW ENGLAND. 265 

Mr. Harrison’s work has been mainly in the 
west, but in the winter and spring of 1886 he 
became so completely exhausted that he had to 
return home and rest. In the fall Dr. Ela, pastor 
of Bromfield street Church, Boston, invited him 
to preach for him one Sabbath and the religious 
interest was so great that he remained there a 
number of weeks, and hundreds came forward for 
prayers, and many were converted. One Sabbath 
afternoon he preached on the baptism of the Holy 
Ghost; the house was filled, and the power of 
God fell upon the people. Eternal good was done. 

Then he went to help Rev. I. H. Packard at 
Trinity Church, Charlestown, Mass. This is a 
large, flourishing church, and the power of the 
Lord was displayed for many weeks, and hundreds 
were converted and the church greatly blessed 
and edified. 

I attended many of these meetings, and was 
convinced that Mr. Harrison had greatly improved 
as a preacher. He did preach some most excel¬ 
lent sermons; and Mr. Packard said it was 
remarkable with what power he would hold the 
large audiences that crowded that large church, 
especially on Sunday nights. They had to have 
policemen at the door to handle the crowds. 

Then he went to Worcester, Mass., to the 
Trinity and Grace churches, Revs. W. T. Perrin 
and G. Whitaker, pastors, where he held the 


266 


THE BOY PREACHER. 


masses for three months or more, and hundreds 
were converted, and many churches of the city 
were greatly ble3t and built up. During this time 
Dr. Munhall came to the city and held revival 
services with great power, but Mr. Harrison’s 
meetings held right on. The pastors went to 
conference, but the meetings continued. It may 
be he stayed there a little too long. One Sabbath 
at Trinity Church the masses were so great that 
after the house was packed, there were so many 
outside that Rev. G. Whitaker preached to them 
from the steps of the church. This shows howto 
reach the masses. One Sabbath Mr. Harrison 
preached to men only, on the unpardonable sin; 
there was a mighty conviction. 

After these meetings he rested awhile, but when 
the camp meetings came he could hardly keep 
away, so he went, weak as he was, to Sterling 
camp meeting, Mass., and was made a great bless¬ 
ing to hundreds; so he was at South Framingham 
camp meeting. 

Then he went to spend the Sabbath at Leomin¬ 
ster, Rev. C. W. Wilder, pastor, and the power 
of God fell upon the people and hundreds were 
saved during his stay. It was a glorious work of 
God. 

Then he went to help Dr. Westwood at Provi¬ 
dence, R. I. Here he had a hard time for a 
while. Hinderances were in the way, but God 
helped him and he conquered. While there Dr. 


REVIVALS IN NEW ENGLAND. 


267 


Musgrove came from the west, and told us of the 
wonderful revivals, when Mr. Harrison helped him 
in the west, and urged him to go west and help 
him again; but his father had died, his mother 
felt lonesome, so he could hardly feel like going 
so far from home. So he labored on at Provi¬ 
dence, and the power of God was displayed, and 
the Chestnut street Church took a new lease of 
its life; hundreds were forward for prayers, and 
many were converted and joined the church. So 
God honored him in New England. 

He is now laboring in New York City with 
Rev. S. Merritt, and fifty were converted the first 
week, praise God ! 

Mr. Harrison has labored with great success in 
Toronto, Canada, also in St. Louis, Chicago, 
Louisville, Denver, Council Bluffs, Milwaukee 
and Janesville; besides going, as a flame of fire, 
to the camp meetings. No wonder that in the 
summer of 1886 he came near to the gates of 
death. But God has restored him, and he is 
laboring as vigorously as ever. 

Pray for him. He maintains his simplicity of 
faith and fervor of soul. The people are never 
weary in hearing him. 


268 GREAT REVIVAL IN NEW YORK CITY. 


CHAPTER XXI. 

GREAT REVIVAL IN NEW YORK CITY. 

For three months there has been a great work 
of grace and salvation going on in New York City. 
After leaving Providence, R. I., Mr. Harrison 
yielded to the pressing invitation of Rev. S. 
Merritt, and came and held revival services in 
Jane Street Church, where there were great dis¬ 
plays of the Redeemer’s power; hundreds were 
converted. At length the meetings were moved 
to the Central Methodist Church, where the con¬ 
verts were so numerous that it was thought proper 
to have a three days’ jubilee over the salvation of 
one thousand sinners. 

All the churches have felt the power of those 
meetings; Baptists, Presbyterians and Episcopa¬ 
lians have rejoiced to have new born souls among 
them. Indeed, some of the ministers have been 
greatly baptized, and are determined to labor for 
the salvation of souls. 

It was found necessary to have this revival in 
New York, for the tide of worldliness and wicked¬ 
ness had so far prevailed that Methodism was not 
gaining on the population, as it ought. There 
were only 15,000 Methodist members, and it was 


THE SERMON. 


269 


high time that thousands more were added to the 
churches, such as are truly saved. 

This is a permanent work of God, for the con¬ 
verts show a clear evidence of conversion, and some 
of them have already led others to Christ. There 
is a spirit of entire consecration prevailing and 
many are seeking the baptism of the Holy Ghost 
and of fire, which shall burn up the remains of 
depravity in the hearts of God’s people and 
inspire them with such faith as will lead them on 
to certain victory. And thus this world will be 
won to God by each one saving another one, and 
those that are saved will be the means of saving 
others. This baptism of the Holy Ghost is for 
the members as well as the ministers; they may 
all be filled with the Holy Ghost and made mighty 
in leading others to the feet of Jesus. 

During this wonderful work of grace in New 
York, Mr. Harrison preached the following 

SERMON. 

The text was Matt. 3: 11, “I indeed baptize you 
with water unto repentance ; but he that comoth after 
me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to 
bear: he shall baptize with the Holy Ghost and with 
fire.” John the Baptist was standing by the river 
Jordan and many were coming to him for baptism 
who had repented of their sins. They were thinking 
more highly of him than he wished them to think, aud 
all at once he proclaims that there is one coming after 
him who was so much mightier than he that he was not 
worthy to unloose the latchet of his shoes: and while 


270 GREAT REVIVAL IN NEW YORK CITY. 


you are receiving the baptism unto repentance, there 
is one coming after me who will baptize you with the 
Holy Ghost and with fire. 

This leads us to consider the fact that God’s children 
in all parts of the world are enquiring “How can we 
abide in the fulness of Christ’s love?” The Holy 
Spirit is moving the whole Christian church in that 
direction. Many think that there is a place of rest 
here, where the soul can enjoy, without interruption 
and without disturbance, the fulness of Christ’s love. 
They are seeking light on this subject. They want to 
find rest for their souls, and walk with God, as Enoch 
did. They are searching after this experience. 

The text that I read speaks of Christ baptizing with 
fire and the Holy Ghost. In II. Samuel, 23 : 24, we 
have a description of the state of a person who enjoys 
intimate communion with God: ‘ ‘ And he shall be as 
the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a 
morning without clouds ; as the tender grass springing 
out of the earth by clear shining after rain.” You 
have seen a pleasant morning, when there was no 
mist, no cloud, no fog, and you have looked up into 
the sky and you have seen the sun streaming through 
with its light, and nothing to disturb its shining or 
interfere with its clearness. So may every true Chris¬ 
tian have this blessed enjoyment. 

But how can we obtain this heavenly experience? 
It is by faith. When Peter preached in the house of 
Cornelius the Holy Ghost fell upon all them that heard 
the Word. Then Peter remembered the words of 
Jesus, how he said, “ John indeed baptized with water, 
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghostand 
then he says “ He purified their hearts by faith.” This 
is the only way in which you can obtain any spiritual 


THE SERMON. 


271 


blessing. It is faith, faith, faith! that is the key 
note. 

In reading our text there are several things that 
suggest themselves to our minds. The first thing that 
comes to the thought in regard to this height of joy, 
this realm of power and this wonderful peace is, Is 
it attainable? Can I reach it? 

The second thought is, What will be the result of 
this baptism upon my character and life? These 
points will be illustrated as we call up witnesses of 
this great experience, witnesses from different churches 
and denominations. The Methodist church was raised 
up to spread scriptural holiness, but other churches 
are taking up the same doctrine and experience. John 
the Baptist says “ He shall baptize you” not any par¬ 
ticular denomination, but any true believer, who comes 
to God in faith and entire consecration. There is no 
exclusion, no foreordination, no predestination ; it is as 
free as God’s love. You, you, you shall be baptized 
with the Holy Ghost and with fire. 

This blessed thought sets our minds at rest at once. 
It may be reached; it may be enjoyed. Jesus will 
indeed, baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. 
You may have a clean heart and a fully sanctified 
soul and body. Some are asking how long a time 
there must be between their conversion and the bap¬ 
tism of fire. You believe you may hare it and that it 
is a second blessing, distinct from and subsequent to 
your regeneration. Some think they will find this 
heavenly experience about the time that they come to 
die. If you may have it five minutes before death, 
why not five weeks, or months, or years? Yea, why 
not now? Faith is always in the present tense, and 
this baptism is by faith, and therefore you may 
obtain it now. 


272 GREAT REVIVAL IN NEW YORK CITY. 

This teaches us that it is an instantaneous blessing. 
There is a moment when you are not baptized and a 
moment when you are. You may be some time in 
reaching this point of full surrender, but there must 
be a moment when you do reach it, and that is the 
moment when you receive the Holy Ghost and the 
refining fire goes through you heart and illuminates 
your soul, scatters its life through every part, and 
sanctifies the whole. 

“Believe in him who died for thee, 

And sure as he has died, 

Your debt is paid; your soul is free 
And you are purified.” 

WITNESSES OF THIS MIGHTY BAPTISM. 

Dr. Edward Payson was a Congregationalist, of 
Portland, Me. He spent days of fasting and nights 
of mourning, but he was filled with the fulness of 
God, and exhibits a temper of soul that shows the 
genuineness of the work. See him on his death bed, 
listen to his dying testimony: “Were I to use the 
figurative language of Bunyan, I would say I am half 
way through the valley of the shadow of death, and 
the celestial city is full in my view. Its glories beam 
upon me; its breezes fan me; its odors are wafting 
me ; its sounds strike my ear and its spirit is breathed 
into my heart; nothing separates me from heaven but 
the river of death, which now appears but an insig¬ 
nificant rill, which may be crossed at a single step 
when God gives me permission.” O, what a victory ; 
what a matchless power of faith that was in Edward 
Payson ! Let us now listen to another witness, 

MRS. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 

She writes in 1742 “I cannot find language to 
express how certain the everlasting love of God 


THE SERMON. 


273 


appears.” She got the baptism ; she got the unction ; 
she got the fulness. O, what a faith that woman hail! 
She says, 44 My safety, my happiness and eternal enjoy¬ 
ment of God’s immutable love seems as durable and 
unchanging as God himself. I was melted and over¬ 
come by the sweetness of this assurance. I fell into 
a great flood of tears. I could not forbear weeping 
aloud. The presence of God was so near, and so 
real that I seemed scarcely conscious of anything else. 
My soul was filled and overwhelmed with light and 
love and the joy of the Holy Ghost, and seemed just 
ready to go away from the body.” 

A calm Congregationalist talking like that! She 
got this fiery baptism on the stony hills of New Eng¬ 
land. But hear her still testifying: 44 My soul nearly 
broke the chains of life.” O for that baptism on your 
hearts to-day — God grant it may come ! 

I will now call one more witness from the same 
denomination; it is 

DR. T. C. UPHAM, 

President of the Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, 
a man of a profound thought and great intellectual 
comprehension. He received this mighty baptism 
of the Holy Ghost upon his soul. He says, 44 I can¬ 
not better express this fiery baptism than by calling it 
a breath of the Holy Ghost, that passed through my 
body. I had a peculiar power, a distinct sensatiou, 
God’s almighty power going through my very being, 
I knelt down and tried to pray, but found my strength 
had well nigh departed from me. To be called a son 
of God is a great thing, but to be called a beloved 
son is inexpressibly delightful. Now I have constant 
peace and consolation, even when I am afflicted. My 
faith never wavers.” 


274 GREAT REVIVAL IN NEW YORK CITY. 

Let me call another witness. There was a woman 
who had been nursed in the lap of luxury; she lived 
in a home of elegance. She had an abundance of 
wealth, which she delighted to scatter among the poor. 
Her name is 

MADAM GUYON. 

She was converted in early life, but for seven years 
she is crying out for this baptism of fire. She is a 
Roman Catholic, in the dark age Catholicism ; yet 
there was a cry in her soul for the living God. She 
was a pale-faced woman, of a retiring nature, timid of 
disposition ; yet she was crying to God to baptize her 
with the Holy Ghost. She would go to the cathedral 
and wait before God for hours. Meanwhile she was 
fasting and struggling and mourning. She is full of 
deeds of charity, making ointments and medicines, 
binding up wounds, caring for the sick and poor, and 
teaching them the alphabet and the catechism. She 
uttered a word from her burdened heart, in her sim¬ 
plicity, without knowing or thinking how widely it 
would effect the interests of humanity, and through 
distant ages how it would be re-echoed. Little did 
she think how far her influence reached, as she stood 
there at the foot of the Alps teaching those children. 
She cried out one day, “Sanctification by faith.” 
Listen to that! The word went out to the pope; it 
went to the throne and to the bishop and priests: 
“Sanctification by faith.” It spread like wild-fire. 
The people rushed to her. She had a conversation 
with the queen herself, and she taught them all of 
sanctification, or the baptism of fire received by faith. 

She was a bright light in that dark age. They 
could not endure her teaching. They put her in 
prison. They gave her to exile. But her prison was 


THE SERMON. 


275 


a palace, and the very stones in the walls shone like 
diamonds ; and she wrote : 

“ A little bird am I, 

Shut out from fields of air, 

And in my cage I sit and sing 
To Him who placed me there. 

Well pleased a prisoner to be 
Because, my God, it pleaseth thee.” 

Oh, what faith in God! What a woman ! How 
far she was superior to the times in which she lived! 
They placed her in the inner prison, and there she 
wrote: 

“ Oh, it is good to soar 
These bolts and bars above, 

To Him whose purpose I adore, 

Whose providence I love; 

And in Thy mighty will to find 
The joy, the freedom of the mind.” 

Think of a Roman Catholic writing like that! 
“Sanctification by faith,” she said, and still you go 
stumbling and groaning, when she got the baptism 
in a moment. So may you expect it now, by simple 
faith, preceded by entire consecration. 

Let me call another witness, 

REV. CHARLES G. FINNEY, 

a man of matchless power and unanswerable in his 
arguments, and a mighty preacher, who went up and 
down this and other lands for fifty years. Lawyers 
and judges are converted under his preaching. Yea, 
he had such a mastery over men that they were over¬ 
come as they were in the days of Stephen, for they 
could not withstand the spirit and wisdom with which 
he spoke. He writes : “On the evening of the day in 
which I was converted I received an overwhelming 
baptism of the Holy Ghost that went through me, soul 


276 GREAT REVIVAL IN NEW YORK CITY. 


and body. I immediately found myself endowed with 
such power from on high that a few words dropped 
here and there to individuals were the means of their 
conversion. My words seemed to fasten like barbed 
arrows in the souls of men. They cut like a sword, 
they broke the heart like a hammer. Often a word 
dropped without my remembering it would send convic¬ 
tion and lead to their conversion.” He went into a 
factory, and the giddy girls began to laugh at him. He 
stood still and looked at them till they were struck 
under conviction and began to cry for mercy. The 
mill was stopped by the unconverted owner. The 
sinners met in the mule room, and were taught the way 
of salvation. A revival broke out, a church was 
organized, and a meeting-house built. Thus he went 
on proclaiming this full salvation till, in a good old 
age, he went into his room and lay down and said, 
“ Farewell, I will go to heaven,” and he was not, for 
God took him. Let us call another witness, 

REV. WM. BRAMWELL. 

A mighty soul saver in England. He writes: “I 
sought the blessing by faith alone. My soul was then 
all wonder, love and praise. It is now twenty-six 
years ago. I have walked in this liberty ever since, 
Glory be to God! I have been kept by his power. 
By faith I stand; in this as in all other instances I 
have proved the devil a liar. He suggested to me a 
few minutes after I received the baptism that I could 
not retain it, and had better not profess it. But I have 
kept it ever since.” 

Now let a quiet Episcopalian speak. The one that 
wrote that beautiful hymn, 

“ Take my life and let it be, 

Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.” 


THE JUBILEE SERVICES. 


277 


She had a very clear and distinct conversion and a 
deep conviction for Sanctification. I refer to 

FRANCIS RIDLEY HAVERGAL. 

It was on Advent Sunday in 1873 of which she 
writes “The hunger of my heart for this fulness was 
immediately followed by the filling. The words made 
effective to this end were these, 4 The blood of Jesus 
Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin.’ I see it 
all, and I have got it. I saw it as a flash of lightning, 
and I got the blessing.” Her sorrows were now for¬ 
ever past. She no longer lived in the sunless ravines, 
but in the sunlight of heaven. 

But what will be the results of receiving this bap¬ 
tism? Rev. John Fletcher says, “The purified 
believer has first the simplicity of a dove, the patience 
of the ox and the courage of the lion.’* 

Person may profess to be sanctified till their dying 
hour, but if they are proud, and think themselves 
better than anybody else, and they stand first, there is 
something defective somewhere. O receive this 
mighty baptism, that you may be able to work in this 
revival, and work in wisdom all the days of your 
lives. O that just here and now God would breathe 
on us this breath of sin-cleansing fire! Amen and 
Amen. 

THE JUBIBEE SERVICES 

over the salvation of one thousand souls were 
held for three days. The first day in Central 
Church, New York, April 11th, 1888. Bishop 
Merrill, Dr. Buckley, and Bishop Andrews 
preached excellent sermons. The rejoicing was 
great, and others were converted. Dr. Buckley 


278 


THE JUBILEE SERVICES. 


was especially blessed in preaching on the philos¬ 
ophy of religious emotion, and its relation to the 
work of revivals. For a long time he preached 
intellectual sermons, full of arguments, but no¬ 
body was saved. Then he took time to prepare 
his heart for the pulpit work, and would speak to 
no one on his way from the closet to the pulpit, 
and under the first sermon preached from the 
heart, five inquired, “What must we do to be 
saved?” A church without emotion is a formal 
church, and will become ritualistic, and in time, 
heterodox. 

In the afternoon, leading laymen were called 
upon for speeches. J. M. Cornell said “I was 
prejudiced against Mr. Harrison at first, and sat 
in the rear, but when I came to the front, and saw 
souls saved I caught the fire, I entered into the 
work. Now I think Mr. Harrison ought to go 
into all the churches of New York. I was afraid 
at first, that Mr. Harrison would walk on the tops 
of the pews and rub off the varnish. Now, I 
think there is much varnish on the Methodism in 
New York that ought to be rubbed off!” J. M. 
Slay back and others spoke with power. 

Thursday and Friday the Jubilee Services were 
held in Janes Street Church. They began at 6 
a. m. and ended about 10 or 12 p. m. A wonder¬ 
ful spirit pervaded the entire services. Dr. Brady 
of New Jersey, preached a most glorious sermon. 
Rev. H. C. McBride melted the entire congrega¬ 
tion in a heavenly sermon on Christian Per- 


AN OLD FASHIONED LOVE FEAST. 


271 ) 


fection. Singing in the midst of the sermon, clos¬ 
ing with a graphic discription of the death-bed 
scene of Rev. Alfred Cookman. 

Rev. Wm. B. Corbett preached one of the 
most glorious gospel sermons I ever heard from 
“ Refrain from these men and let them alone, for 
if this counsel or this work be of men, it will 
come to naught. But if it be of God, ye cannot 
overthrow it.” Acts 5 : 38. 

He showed that the Gospel was of God, and 
that it revealed his infinite love in its adaptation 
and ample provision for the salvation of men, in 
this world and in that which is to come. It was 
indeed a marvellous statement of the glorious 
Gospel of the blessed God. No wonder that fifty 
souls were converted at the close of the sermon, 
and that the meeting lasted till nearly 12 o’clock. 

At 6 o’clock the next morning the people were 
there, and also the saving power. Business men 
on their way to their work stopped to get con¬ 
verted and went on their way rejoicing. An old- 
fashioned love-feast was held at ten o’clock, and 
the power and glory of God still filled the place. 
Tears and shouts, and songs of thanksgiving were 
in perfect order. Heaven came down to earth. 

After a collation in the vestry, Dr. J. H. Vin¬ 
cent, D. D., preached a very appropriate and vig¬ 
orous sermon, “Add to your faith virtue”—or 
manhood, courage. Converts had a battle to 
fight. Self and sin and Satan to conquer, and 
many failed from want of courage. It is not 


280 


THE JUBILEE SERVICES. 


enough to have faith, you must also have courage. 
Faith is only the alphabet, you must go on and 
learn the things of God and how to prevail against 
your inward and outward enemies. We are con¬ 
victed, converted and fully sanctified by faith. 
Faith reveals sin, and also the Saviour. Faith 
unites us to God, and takes hold of his Omnipo¬ 
tent power. It reveals the realities of eternity. 
But all this is only the beginning, we must have 
and exercise courage, or we cannot succeed in 
Christian warfare. We want heroism in the dark¬ 
est hour and in the thickest of the fight. And to 
virtue we must add knowledge. We must study 
to know the whole will of God concerning us. 
Study his word and find out his will. Be in¬ 
structed in the things of the kingdom. To knowl¬ 
edge we must add temperance. Be temperate in 
all things. Knowledge without temperance will 
only puff up. To temperance you must add 
patience. You need patience to enable you to 
endure hardness and to suffer the opposition of men 
and devils. And to patience you must add godli¬ 
ness—God likeness. God made man in his own 
image. Sin defaced it, but God can restore it, 
and we must wait upon him for this great grace. 
We must learn to be kind to those who have not 
reached so high a state of piety as ourselves, for 
we must add to godliness, brotherly kindness, 
and to brotherly kindness, charity.” God helped 
him much and made the sermon a great bless¬ 
ing. 


THE KING’S GALLERY. 


281 


Rev. De Witt Talmage closed up this series of 
Jubilee sermons, and brought on the top stone 
with shouting, as he preached with great energy 
and spiritual fervor, from Paul fighting with the 
beasts at Ephesus, and also of the Christian army 
“ encompassed about with so great a cloud of 
witnesses.” 

‘ ‘ Every man and woman has a beast to fight 
and conquer. With one it is an evil temper, with 
another it is love of the world. These converts 
will soon find some beasts to fight. But let them 
put on courage, for we are encompassed about 
with a cloud of witnesses. In the coliseum at 
Rome there were forty galleries rising one above 
another, in which twenty-five thousand persons 
assembled to behold the conflicts with the beasts 
in the arena below. 

1. There was the king's gallery , where the 
king or emperor, and the princes met and watched 
the conflict. Thank God the Christians in their 
conflicts are watched from the king’s gallery by 
the King of Heaven, and the King is on our side, 
and in that gallery is the Prince of peace, and he 
is our elder brother, our blood relation, who is 
with us always, even to the end of the world. 

2. Then there is the gallery of the angels, who 
are our ministering spirits, sent forth to minister 
for them who shall be heirs of salvation. I look 
and I see among them Gabriel, one of the mighty 
angels who excels in strength. There is the an- 
gel who strengthened Elijah in the desert by 


282 


THE JUBILEE SERVICES. 


bringing him a cake baked on the coals, and 
cruse of water. There are the angels that sung 
over the plains of Bethlehem, when the Saviour 
was born, and a host of others, and they are all 
on our side of this conflict, and they often come 
to bear us up in their arms, lest we dash our feet 
against a stone. 

3. Then there is the gallery of the prophets 
and apostles. See Moses and Joshua, how they 
stand out in bold relief amid the throng. See 
Elijah, who prayed on Carmel till the fire fell and 
consumed the sacrifice. See Daniel, who spent 
such a blessed night in the den of lions, when the 
angels lock their mouths. See Paul, who fought 
with the beasts at Ephesus. All these and many 
more are in sympathy with us in this conflict. 

4. There is the gallery of the martyrs, who 
were stoned or sawn asunder, or burnt at the 
stake, or covered with pitch and tar, and set on 
fire to illuminate the gardens of the bloody Nero, 
at Pome. They all sympathize with us in our 
trials. 

5. Then there is the gallery of the eminent 
saints of all ages. Many of them did not under¬ 
stand one another in this world, but the mist is 
all cleared away, and they sit side by side in the 
clear light of God. See Calvin sitting by the 
side of Arminius. Luther and Wesley are there, 
and Bishop Simpson and Alfred Cook man. I see 
there are a few vacant seats, and there is one for 
you, Brother Harrison. Some ask me if I believe 


AN ETERNAL VICTORY. 


283 


in Harrison ; you might as well ask me if I believe 
in sunshine. He led two of my children to God, 
and one of them is in heaven. 

6. Then there is the gallery of our departed 
friends. There sits my old father, who told the 
minister that all his children were converted but 
me, and soon I was converted. There sits your 
fond mother, watching and waiting for you. 
There is that lovely babe that God took out of 
your arms, who is saying, 44 Steer this way, 
father; come this way, mother!” They are all 
waiting and watching for us, and will meet us just 
beyond the river; and till then they are helping 
us all they can to conquer our foes and gain an 
eternal victory.” 

The people were filled and thrilled by this 
eloquent sermon, which was an inspiration to 
every child of God. It did seem as though those 
old saints in those galleries were not only looking 
at us, but that they would break through the thin 
veil and appear in person in our midst. This 
appeared even more real as Brother McBride sang 
that heavenly song called 4 4 Meeting at the Golden 
Landing.” 

Friends of yore have flown to heaven, 

Springing from the house of clay, 

Glad to gain their joyful freedom, 

Borne by angel bands away. 

Chorus. —While on Pasgahs mount I’m standing, 

Looking toward the vernal shore, 

There I seem to see them banding, 

Just beside the Golden Landing, 

Waiting to receive me o’er; 

Precious ones, who went before. 


284 


THE JUBILEE SERVICES. 


Often nt the the shades of evening, 

When I sit me down to rest, 

One by one I count them over, 

They who are in glory blest. 

And I seem to see their faces 
Beaming with celestial love, 

Shining as their blessed Master, 

White-robed with the saints above. 

And I think I hear them speaking 
As they often spake to me, 

W T hile I seem to hear them saying 
“Pilgrim, heaven is waiting thee.” 

Brother, sister, faithful soldier, 

If our mingling here so sweet, 

What shall be our joyous rapture, 

When we at the landing meet? 

Heaven was close to earth and our loved ones 
were seemingly very near, while this saintly 
brother sang this blessed song. Surely there is a 
holy power in sacred song, especially when .sung 
in the power of the Holy Ghost. 

Our hearts were melted and our faith mightily 
strengthened by this glorious service. We were 
inspired with new courage to conquer all our foes, 
visible or invisible. We felt that we were more 
than conquerors through Him that loved us and 
gave Himself for us. Dr. Talmage was carried 
away in the spirit of this great jubilee. He was 
greatly blessed himself, and was a great blessing 
to us all. 

The evening service was a regular harvest home, 
and continued till about 12 o’clock, and about 


GIVING AWAY THE PROFITS. 


285 


fifty professed to be converted. There was a deep 
conviction resting upon the people, and a great 
variety among those who were saved, rich and 
poor, young and old. It was a pentecostal season, 
and showed us plainly how to reach the masses. 

It is resolved to continue these meetings right 
on through the General Conference which meets in 
this city in May, when delegates from China, 
India and Africa will be present. It is hoped that 
all will catch the flame, until five thousand souls 
shall be converted to God. Some are prophesying 
that this work will spread and prevail until there 
is as extensive a work of grace as there was in 
1857. Rev. Stephen Merritt is the prime mover 
in this work, who beside being a successful pastor 
of two churches, is carrying on a large and profit¬ 
able business, and giving away the profits, thus 
glorifying God. No wonder that he has such 
great faith in God. 

The newspapers in New York were very favor¬ 
able in reporting these services, and thus great good 
was done. I stayed in New York over the Sabbath, 
and saw the power and glory of God in the morn¬ 
ing, when a business man came from New Jersey 
to be converted, and many were saved, including 
a son whose mother brought him to the meeting 
on purpose. One woman was overwhelmed with 
the glory of God, and for a while lost her strength, 
and then she stood up and leaped for joy. So in 
the afternoon the altar was full, and especially in 
the evening, so that there is already one hundred 


286 


THE JUBILEE SERVICES. 


converted toward the second thousand. The 
meetings are rolling on, and a second jubilee will 
soon be held over the salvation of two thousand, 
and this does not include the hundreds that are 
being saved in other churches and in their homes. 
Surely there is a sound of abundance of rain. 

This is a genuine pentecostal series of services, 
when many ministers are being inspired with the 
Holy Ghost and fitted for successful service in 
the work of the Lord. 

Dr. Corbett, in the ministers , meeting on Mon¬ 
day advised all the ministers to go to these meet¬ 
ings, and see such scenes as they used to see in 
days of old, when he used to travel on a circuit 
with fifteen appointments, and saw twelve hundred 
sinners converted. 

Mr. Harrison is remarkable for his simplicity, 
and for the fervor of his spirit, and especially for 
his power in prayer, and for his faith in God. He 
has so much faith in God that he can preach as 
simply as a child. And while some ministers are 
depending on their elaborate sermons for success, 
and preaching to small congregations, he is 
depending upon God, and gives the people the 
simplest talks that ever took the place of sermons, 
and yet they have the Holy Ghost in them, and 
the people feel the power of God, cry for mercy 
and find salvation, and the church is too small for 
the people. Surely the excellency of the power is 
of God, and not of man ; that no flesh may glory 
in His sight. 


THE JUBILEE HYMN. 


287 


The following hymn was sung at the jubilee : 

THE JUBILEE HYMN. 


Around this altar, gracious Lord, 

In penitential grief, 

A thousand sinful souls have bowed, 

To pray and seek relief. 

Burdened with guilt and lost in sin, 

One thousand bowed the knee 

To Christ, by whom the lost are saved; 

By whom the bond made free. 

One thousand hearts rejoice and sing, 

That Christ has made them free; 

A thousand hearts own Christ as King, 

On this glad jubilee. 

A thousand voices bless thy name, 

Their loud hosannas raise, 

To Thee their gratitude proclaim, 

In jubilee of praise. 

A thousand names enrolled on earth, 

Enrolled, we trust above, 

In God’s own book, for which we sing 
Our Jubilee of love. 

Continue, Lord, this gracious work, 

In mercy we implore, 

We praise Thee for a thousand saved, 

But save a thousand more. 

Dr. J. M. Buckley, in the Christian Advocate , 
speaks of the Jubilee as follows: “Is it not a 
phenomenon calling for universal praise to God, 
that in New York, with its luxury, scepticism, 
commercial greed, political scheming, and more 
than ten thousand saloons, with the cry constantly 



THE JUBILEE SERVICES. 


raised that religion is declining, that day and 
night for so many weeks such intense feeling can 
prevail and such results follow ? 

44 Some say, 4 What is it?’ 4 How is it accom¬ 
plished ?’ 4 Is it not a species of magnetism?’ 

4 Will it not be transient?' Before consenting to 
preach the Jubilee sermon, the writer visited the 
meetings, and not only so but made inquiry in 
different cities, where Mr. Harrison has been the 
instrument of similar awakenings, and having 
seen nothing to condemn in him, and noticing the 
soundness of the truth preached, the propriety of 
the instructions given, and hearing from all quar¬ 
ters testimony as to the genuineness of the work 
in other places, as well as in this city, he has no 
difficulty in recognizing underneath the crowds 
and the personality of the Evangelist, spiritual in¬ 
fluences, which alone in harmony with the word 
of God are able to renew human nature. 4 The 
Kingdom of Heaven is a net,’ said the Saviour, 

4 in which all kinds of fish are caught, and men 
are to castaway the bad and preserve the good.’ 
We have recently received from a layman an 
account of the work Mr. Harrison did in Mil¬ 
waukee, an almost German city. So unfavorable 
to Evangelistic work, that it was thought no great 
revival could occur, but after two years, most of 
the converts are found among the substantial, 
God-fearing people of the place. God has cer¬ 
tainly given this young man—no longer a boy— 
extraordinary powers in leading men to Christ. 


CHRISTIAN CO-OPERATION. 


289 


He is a far better preacher for that purpose than 
many of those who complacently consider them¬ 
selves better sermon makers than he. 

The effect of this work in the city of New York 
is valuable in several particulars. It demonstrates 
that the drum and the fife and fantastical perform¬ 
ances are not necessary to awaken the people. It 
proves that nothing has so much attracting power 
as conversions; it shows that an atmosphere of 
worldliness in a great city cannot obstruct God’s 
people when they unite their forces for the salva 
tion of men; it emphasizes the simple truths 
which are reiterated by the evangelist and by his 
co-workers; it reveals the fact that neither cari¬ 
cature nor criticism can impede a real work of 
grace; and it indirectly exhibits the latent force 
of general religious teaching; for Mr. Harrison 
could have done nothing without Christian 
co-operation, and could have made but little 
impression if the community did not contain a 
multitude of persons who, through the instructions 
of the sanctuary, had been taught their duty, but 
up to this time had neglected it. 

The inspirational appeal of alarm and of invita¬ 
tion, a clarion voice of confidence summoning 
penitents to the altar, the stimulus of song, and 
the evoking of the testimony of new-born souls 
make Mr. Harrison a most effective unifier of 
otherwise scattered desires, hopes and efforts. 
He has been a bell to call the people together: a 
trumpet to arouse them to battle ; a flute to soothe 
and a harp to chase away doubt and fear. 


290 


THE JUBILEE SERVICES. 


May his simplicity continue, his activity be 
sustained, and may the churches feed the lambs 
whom he has led into the fold. We are particu¬ 
larly interested in this work because it began and 
was carried forward in the section of the city not 
considered favorable for evangelical work. ’ 


WORKS OF REV. E. DAVIES 


The Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Select 
Sermons . 12mo. Price, enamel paper covers, 

50 cts.; cloth covers, 80 cts. 

“ It Is written in a clear and vigorous style, and is scriptural. 
Its circulation at the present time would have a most excellent 
effect upon the church. The author has done an excellent work 
In preparing and publishing this book.’’ — Rev. R. JV. Allen. 

“ Rev. E. Davies, the Evangelist, employs his pen as freely as 
his voice in preaching Christ. Like his other worki it is marked 
with clearness, point , directness of aim, and a certain earnestness 
and incisiveness, which will not fail to profit the reader. In plain 
Saxon language, it strikes home to the heart. This book can only 
do good, and should be widely read.” — Dr. D. Sherman. 

“ This book contains the substance of a number of sermons on 
the means of obtaining the highest experience of Christian life, 
the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. The author is well known as 
an earnest and effective evangelist, and a welcome contributor to 
church papers, and as the author of several works on holiness.” 

— The Methodist. 

“ It is just the book for the masses, and canr^t fail to do rood.” 

— Bishop R. S. Foster. 

The Believer 9 s Hand Book u Holiness, show¬ 
ing how to enter and how to dwell in the Canaan 
of Perfect Love. Containing Eight Lectures 
I2mo. Price, enamel paper, 25 cts.; cloth, 40 cts. 

“ This is truly an excellent work. We have perused its pages 
with profit. Most heartily do we commend it to all who are 
interested in heart-holiness.”— Mrs. Phebe Palmer .” 

** It sets forth the Bible view of holiness and love — two made 
one in their completeness, in clear and cogent terms. Everybody 
will be better for prayerfully reading its sacred teachings.” — 
Bishop Haven. 

“ A good book. It is terse , apt .practical, and will fhrnlsh the 
young and ardent beginner with ready and strong weapons 
against his spiritual foes.”— Rev. W. H. Boole. 

“ It Is plain, direct and comprehensive, and is in all respects not 
only a convenient but a valuable manual. We commend it to all 
Rev. Wm. McDonald. 

*' It is the most definite and practical exposition of the docirind 
of entire sanctification I have ever seen. A most excellent work, 
and within the reach of all.” — Rev. W. H. F-ers. 

The Gift of the Holy Ghost and Believer 9 * 
Hand Book . In one volume. Cloth, $1.00. 



The Contrast between Infidelity and ChiHs- 
tianity , AS seen from the Standpoint of Deatf. 
Bed Testimonies. Price, cloth, 40 cts. 

A BOOK OF REFERENCE FOR MINISTERS AND CHRISTIAN WORKERS. 

“ These testimonies of Christians and Infidels are of the best 
logic to prove the immortality of the soul and the divinity of the 
Christian religion. This book is worthy of a place in any lib 
rary. ,f —Lutheran Observer. 

Gems and Pearls for Parents and Children. 
For Family Reading and Sabbath Schools. Fine 
steel engraving. Price 75 cts. 

A fine selection of original and selected articles, any 
one of a number of which is worth the price of the 
book. 

The Paw of Holiness . An Exposition of the 
Ten Commandments. Showing the Relation of the 
Decalogue to the Gospel and to the Moral Universe. 
Also, in same vol., an abridgment of Harris’s Prize 
Essay on Covetousness. Large lGmo. Price 75 cts. 
This book is designed to check the awful tide of im¬ 
morality that is flooding the land and the world, and to 
show the eternal obligation of the moral law, and to be 
a handbook for ministers and philanthropists. It should 
be widely circulated and diligently read, and cannot fail 
to do good. 

He Leadeth Me ; or, The Personal Narrative, 
Religious Experience, and Christian Labors, of 
Rev. E. Davies. 12mo. Fine steel engraving 
Price $1.00. 

This is a life portrait of an earnest, successful laborer 
in the Gospel field. Its thrilling incidents have melted 
and fired many hearts. 

The Life and Sufferings of Lizzie O. Smith. 

12mo. Enamel paper covers, 35 cts. 

Miss Smith has lain upon her bed for forty years, and 
is poor. This book is published for her benefit. 


PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, AT THE 

HOLINESS BOOK CONCERN, READING, MASS. 

On sale by J. P. Magee, Boston; Phillips & Hunt, 80 fi 
Broadway, New York; Hitchcock & Walden, Cincinnati 'oui 
Chicago; Rev. A. Gather, 921 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa. 



LIFE AND JOURNAL 


OF 

MRS. HESTER ANN ROGERS. 


(Eontiettstli anti Combined 


By Rev. E. DAVIES, Evangelist, 

AUTHOR OF “THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST,” “THE BELIEVER’S 
HANDBOOK,” “ THE BOY-PREACHER,” ETC. 


The memory of the just is blessed. 

Solomon. 


PUBLISHED BY THE 

HOLINESS BOOK CONCERN, READING, MASS. 

For sale by McDonald & Gill, and J. P. Magee, Boston, Mass.; 
Phillips & Hunt, Broadway, New York; Walden & Stowe, Cincinnati 
and Chicago; J. S. Inskip, 921 Arch St., Phila., Pa. 


THE BOY PREACHER; 

OR, 

THE LIFE AND LABORS OF REY. THOMAS HARRISON. 

With sketches of the most remarkable Revivals in 
which, he has been engaged. 

Fine Steel Portrait, - - - Price $1.00. 

“ The remarkable labors of Mr. Harrison, the young revivalist, 
are fully described in this volume, and by the practiced pen ot 
one who, himself, has been an evangelist for ten years, and 
whose publications on religious subjects are favorably known to 
many of our readers. The fame of the extraordinary results 
of the several religious awakenings with which Mr. Harrison 
has been connected, will undoubtedly make no little demand for 
this book. A portrait of Mr. Harrison accompanies the 
rolume.” 


LIFE, JOURNAL, AND SPIRITUAL LETTERS 

OF 

MRS. HESTER ANN ROGERS. 


Condensed and combined. Price 50 cents. 

This deeply spmtual book will gx*eatly help all who are 
^.tilting for heart purity, and all who are seeking to be esiab- 
1» he d in the doctrine and expei-ience of entire sanctification. 



NOTICES OF THE PRESS 


THE GIFT OF THE HOLT GHOST 

The Believer’s Privilege, 

AND 

SELECT SERMONS ON CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. 

By Rev. E. DAVIES, Evangelist. 


From Rev. R. W. ALLEN, in “The Methodist Home Journal.’* 

“ Thk Gift of the Holt Ghost the Believer’s Privilege,” 
is the title of a work issued by Itev. E. Davies. It contains seven chap¬ 
ters, bearing the following titles: — “ The Gift of the Holy Ghost,” “ Brief 
History of the Three Dispensations,” “ The Results of the Fiery Baptism,” 
The Holy Ghost Ruling in the Early Christian Church,” “ The Holy 
Ghost in the Church of the Present Day,” “ Testimonies of its Baptism,” 
and “ Testimonies Continued,” with an Appendix on “ The Three Dispen¬ 
sations.” It is written in a vigorous, clear, earnest style, Methodistic and 
Scriptural, and its circulation at the present time will have a most excel¬ 
lent effect on the Church. What the Church especially needs is the Pen¬ 
tecostal baptism, and this book will greatly assist in obtaining it. We 
say to all. Read it with prayer, and it will lead you into the higher and 
richer experiences of the Christian dispensation. The author has done an 
excellent work in preparing and publishing this book. 


From Rev. Dr. SHERMAN. 

« The Gift of the Holt Ghost,” by Rev. E. Davies, the fcvange 
list, who employs his pen as freely as his voice in preaching Christ. 
Like his other works this is marked by clearness, point, directness of 
aim, and a certain earnestness and incisiveness, which will not fail to profit 
the readei In plain, Saxon language, he strikes home to the heart, 
opening to the view of the seeker the nature and offices of the Spirit, 
and the possibility of entire purity through his influence. The book 
can only do good, and should be widely read. 



TESTIMONIALS. 

“ I have read the * Life of Frances Ridley Havergal, by Rev. 
E. Davies.* I find he has done his work admirably; no Chris¬ 
tian can read this biography without acquiring a sharp appetite 
for the heavenly manna on which this saint of God fed and 
grew so strong and beautiful. Mr. Davies is doing eminent ser¬ 
vice to the Church by reducing the size and cost of books which 
have become sacred classics, thus bringing them within the 
reach of the toiling millions. I have read this book with great 
spiritual profit. Let every evangelical preacher see that this 
book is within reach of his young people. **— Rev. Daniel 
Steele, D. D. 

“ Mr. Davies has conferred a great favor upon the Christian 
public, by the preparation and publication of this book; a work 
which clearly unfolds one of the most interesting and beautiful 
characters known in this century.”— Rev. Asa Mahan , D. D. t 
LL. D. t in “ Divine Life.” 

“ Rev. E. Davies, the Evangelist, issues a well condensed life 
of that devoted and talented woman, F. R. Havergal. The 
flavor of this consecrated life still lingers among us. This 
neatly printed volume, which is sold for fifty cents, will prove 
an evangelist of peace and faith wherever it goes.”— Zion's 
Herald. 

“ Rev. E. Davies has just prepared and published a charming 
sketch of the life of Miss Havergal, one of the most beautiful 
characters in modem times, whose intense personal devotion 
to God, and fine practical writings, places her name among the 
immortals.”— Grove Record. 

“ This.book has been prepared with great care, and contains 
a complete account of the brilliant life and writings of one of 
the most remarkable women of the age.”— Southern Churchman. 

“ The ‘ Life of Miss Havergal ’ is a rich feast for religious 
readers. Mr. Davies has made a useful and interesting book 
for Sunday Schools. He has given an account of her religous 
experience and deep-toned spirituality.”—^. Y. Independent. 

“ Miss Havergal’s views of Scripture are marvellously fresh, 
striking and helpful. With a single stroke she makes old and 
familiar passages yield new meanings. This spiritual art has 
made her name dear to thousands. This sketch will be a rich 
feast for all who love the Word of God.”— Lutheran Observer. 

“ A small, incisive, substantial, cheap, and invaluable work. 
Who can estimate the influence of this quiet, devout, yet ener¬ 
getic woman? Read carefully this comprehensive summary 
of her life.”— Christian Standard. 

“ Miss Havergal seems to have been a person of rare spiritual 
experiences and of rare qualifications for noting and recording 
them. This sketeh is a succinct account of her devoted life. 
The influence of such lives extends far beyond their own 
church and lifts higher the lives of all Christians.”— The Ad¬ 
vance, Chicago. 

“ A well told story of a remarkable character, and a good 
book for young people and Sunday School libraries. It is a 
book which devout readers can read with interest and profit. 
The whole work is warm with glowing Christian experience.” 
Western Christian Advocate. 

“ We have here all that is essential m the life of this extra¬ 
ordinary woman. It is well arranged, well printed, and well 
bound, and neatly embellished; and all for the sum of fifty 
tents.”— Christian Witness. 


SELECTIONS 


FROM 

HARRIS'S MAMMON. 


BT 


REV. E. DAVIES, 

Author oj “The Contrast between Infidelity and Christianity 
"The Gift of the Holy Ghost," “ Believer's Hand Book," 
"Gems and Pearls," “lie Leadeth He," Etc. 


“Bewm of covetouaneas." “Occupy till I come." 


PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR AT THE 

HOLINESS BOOK CONCERN, READING, MASS. 

ON BALE BY 

J. P. Magee, Boaton. Phillips t Hunt, 805 Broadway, N. Y. 
Hitchcock & Walden. Cincinnati and Chicago. 

Rev. A. CATHEB. 921 Arch St, Phila., Pa. 










FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL: 


A FULL SKETCH OF HER LIFE, 



WITH CHOICE SELECTIONS 

FROM TIER 

PROSE AND POETICAL WRITINGS. 


By JiEV. E. DAVIES, Evangelist. 


Price, Gilt, 73 Cts.; Cloth, 50 Cts. j Paper, 25 Cts. 






History of a Modern Martyr-, 


OK, 


THE LIFE, SUFFERINGS, AND RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE 


OF 

MISS LIZZIE O. SMITH. 


BY 

REV. E. DAVIES, 

Author of 11 Believer's Handbook ,” “ He leadeth me," “ The Gift of the Holy Ghost," Ifc. 


My life, my blood, I here present. 

If for thy truth they may be spent: 
Fulfil thy sovereign council, Lord; 
Thy will be done, thy name adored.” 


EN LAUDED EDITION. 


HOLINESS BOOK CONCERN, READING, MASS. 

ALSO AT WILLARD TRACT REPOSITORY, 

BEACON HILL PLACE, BOSTON. 

Price 35 cents; cloth, 50 cents, 


GEMS AND PEARLS 

FOR 

PARENTS AND CHILDREN. 


BY REV. EDWARD DAVIES. 


Author of the Life of John Wesley; Bishop William Taylor; 
The Boy Preacher; Francis llidley Havei’gal; The 
Gift of the -Holy Ghost and Believer’s Hand 
Book; Hand Book of Africa, etc. 


“ Wisdom is better than weapons of war.” 


HOLINESS BOOK CONCERN, READING, MASS. 


Price , 25 Cents; Cloth , 50 Cents. 











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